


Snapshots in time: The Chase Space

by Firebird24811



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: Cool uncle/aunt Alex, Cuties, Dad Hearthstone, F/F, F/M, Fight me on that, Fluff, Future Fic, Gen, Homey atmosphere, Humor, IKEA, M/M, Magic lawyers, Mom Blitzen, Mom Magnus, TARDIS - Freeform, Weird aunt Annabeth, chase space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-01-29 14:38:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12633123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firebird24811/pseuds/Firebird24811
Summary: The Chase space doesn't have nearly enough fics. My mission? Fill it with all sorts of cute kids living there, visiting, and going to school nearby. They're a big weird family.





	1. The Chase Space is Closed for Renovations

**Author's Note:**

> Rated T because why not. I usually stick my stuff at T for swearing, but...there is none? I dunno. I'm weird.  
> Also, not proofed or anything, because I'm too lazy. Feel free to criticize me in the comments.

The first kid is an accident.

When Magnus had made his request of the gods, he hadn't pictured it panning out quite this way, but in hindsight it made sense. The gods could work miracles--as seen by the fact that Chase Mansion, formerly owned by Annabeth Chase and containing four bedrooms and three floors (not counting basement and roof), was now a four story building (not counting basement, attic, and roof), with almost twenty bedrooms, yet still looked almost identical to its previous appearance on the outside. The electronics were top of the line, the library and kitchen fully stocked, the toilet paper four ply...and none of the furniture was put together.

On this particular day, Magnus and Blitz are working on putting together bunk beds in one of the rooms. Hearth is upstairs putting together stuff for his and Blitzens room, and Sam is out with Amir, Alex playing the male chaperone. It's quiet and peaceful, music playing in the background and no words spoken except "pass me that wrench" and "does this look right?" until the silence is broken. "Odin's eye--Magnus! Why is there a small child on our doorstep?!"

Magnus is up and out of the room before Sam finishes her sentence. Bypassing the elevator (a necessary addition with six floors) and taking the stairs three and four at a time, Magnus reaches the ground floor to see a red-faced Samirah with, indeed, a small child in her arms, Alex behind her loaded down with bags. The kid can't be more than nine, probably closer to seven, and is so grimy Magnus can't tell much about them other than that they have enough hair to rival Halfborn's mane.

Magnus doesn't know why Sam seems to be blaming him. I mean, sure, Magnus had already mentioned the Chase Space to a few homeless guys he's talked to before, but Alex had done the same thing and he isn't getting Sam's stink eye. Magnus certainly isn't actively advertising the place. For one thing, the place isn't even fully set up yet (the IKEA boxes everywhere prove that fact), but for another thing, they don't plan on being loud about it. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows that homeless kids steer clear of shelters for all sorts of reasons. The minute this place gets identified as a shelter, they lose their safety. Whatever caused this kid to choose their step, it's not important now. "Hey kid, what's you name?" Alex demands of the small creature, subtlety clearly not his strong suit. He drops the bags in the entry hall and holds his arms out, attempting to pry the child from Sams arms. "Sam, I'll take 'em--" Whatever Alex was going to say is cut off as the kid, apparently having taken a liking to Sam, sinks their teeth into Alex's left wrist. Alex shrieks and yanks his hand away as the kid continues to cling to Sam.

Sam just looks exasperated. "Never mind, I seem to have been imprinted on. I'll take this munchkin to the bathroom to get washed up. Alex, put away the stuff we got and bring me the bathroom stuff when you're done. Magnus, I'll let you know if they need any medicine." Sam frees both hands long enough to sign ASL for 'magic', not that Magnus needs it to know what Sam means by medicine. Regardless, he leaves Sam to her business.

* * *

That evening, the group sits down to dinner with the addition of Hannah, an eight year old girl with a huge mass of curls she keeps dipping in her pizza grease until Sam takes pity on her and pulls the dark hair back with a spare headscarf because of course Sam carries around spare headscarves. Hannah speaks very little to anyone other than Sam, and spends most of the evening clinging to Sam while she studies the others suspiciously and puts away almost a whole pizza by herself. Magnus is somewhat impressed. Only Hearthstone passes her inspection, and Magnus suspects she might have climbed into the elf's lap if it weren't for Sam. Hearthstone, for his part, spends almost as much time studying her between his conversation with Blitz about their room. It's kind of hard to sign and look at someone you're not talking to. Sam is apparently won over by the little girl and spends dinner arguing with Alex about whether the bite was justified. Magnus votes no, but is told his vote doesn't count. Why, he's not sure.

After dinner, Magnus checks Hannah, but she seems fine other than refusing to speak. He also checks out Alexs bite and pretends not to spend more time than necessary just examining Alexs hand. Sam accuses him of babying Alex and the two siblings scowl at each other the rest of the evening. This causes more than a little trouble when Sam needs to leave and Hannah refuses to be left alone with the others. Hannah might have ended up back on the step all night, clinging to Sam and refusing to let her leave, but for Hearth performing miracles and managing to get her to come with him to bed. Alex is convinced Hearthstone drugged the kid. Blitz and Sam are convinced it's magic. Magnus isn't entirely sure it's not both. All he knows is that after he and Blitzen are forced to finish putting together one of the bunk beds so Hannah has somewhere to sleep, Magnus walks past on his way out and sees Hearthstone reading a book to Hannah. Well, signing it. Of course, it's only then that Magnus puts two and two together and realizes what Hearth must have realized halfway through dinner at latest. Hannah is extremely deaf.

The fact that it took Magnus this long to figure it out probably doesn't bode well for the survival of Chase Space.

 


	2. Pig's feet look an awful lot like--

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new kid joins the group! Alex is awesome! And Percy is the best big brother ever sorry I don't make the rules.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goats. I posted this for fun and went to sleep, and woke up to find I'd been visited by kindly Valkyries leaving comments and kudos! Thank you so much! This fic is not in chronological order, BTW.
> 
> If anyone's interested, here are the kids so far who live at/visit Chase Space (see if you can spot pop culture references):
> 
> Hannah - starts living there a month before the Chase Space formally opens. When she arrives, she's eight years old. Stone deaf, small and pale. Weighes about sixty pound and probably a third of her body weight is her hair. Long curly, thick dark brown hair. Prefers Hearthstone and Sam above anyone else in the house.
> 
> Holly Tharr - has only been staying about a month. A tall, muscled girl with light brown skin, long black hair, and green eyes. Has a weird boyfriend and won't talk much about why she's there, but spends a lot of time reading law and geneology books. Seventeen years old.
> 
> Danny - a small fiery girl, shows up every once in a while for breakfast and often sneaks in (everyone knows she's there though) to read in the library. Short and skinny, curly dirty hair that washes to a golden blonde, tan olive skin, and dark grey eyes. 11. EDIT: I just realized that I made an Annabeth Chase in the same universe as Annabeth Chase. I feel quite dumb now and am changing her name to avoid confusion.
> 
> Liam - a tall gangly boy with narrow shoulders, ragged brown hair, and blue eyes. 15 years old.
> 
> Leslie - a short, skinny kid who started living there shortly after they opened. Dreamy and absent minded. Seems unaware of what's going on most of the time. Tanned, freckled skin, sun-bleached blonde hair, and big brown eyes. 15 years old.
> 
> Julie - curvy, pretty, 16 years old. Kicked out by her dad and is trying to contact her big brother but having issues. Has anger issues. Pretty and blonde and learning boxing.
> 
> I'm sorry this took so long to get out, BTW. Life is dealing me a lot of sucker punches right now.

Five months after opening, Magnus opens the door to find a lean kid about to ring the doorbell again, looking petrified and dressed in an outfit that wouldn't look out of place on Alex Fierro. Their hair, what there is of it, is a very pale grey-purple and looks like it was washed vigorously seven or eight times to try to wash dye out before being combed back. Broad bony shoulders lie under a rumpled plaid button up and paisley tie that don't go together at all, and the kid has managed to find a clean pair of slacks that would be perfect but for being about six inches too short, revealing tap shoes and broccoli-patterned socks. A clipboard covered in green washi tape that the kid clutches completes the look.

Before Magnus can even say anything, the kid starts in on their spiel, speaking so fast Magnus almost has trouble hearing it. "Hello sir my name is Jay Wilson I'm looking for work if you need any handy work around the house or babysitting and I can tutor elementary students really I can do anything you need if you're looking for help--"

Magnus holds a hand up, having trouble keeping up with the spew. "Jay, you said?"

"Yesir." Jay seems to realize that their spiel isn't winning Magnus over, and looks ready to slink away. Magnus really isn't in the mood to chase kids through the street this early.

"Look, my name is Magnus Chase. And we're not looking for any help, but--" Magnus has to repeat the 'but' a few times before Jay stops looking ready to flee. "--Buut, that doesn't mean I can't help. Come on, it's about time to start breakfast for the others and I could use some help with that." He couldn't. Really, it's much easier to cook by himself (except that one time Alex stayed over at Chase Space a month ago and Magnus walked down to find Alex in nothing but a flannel pajama top and shorts), but Jay seems more likely to stay if they feel like they're actually doing something productive. So Magnus goes to the kitchen with Jay and pulls out the ingredients for breakfast. Breakfast is the most popular time for visitors, so they have to make a lot of a food. Magnus gives Jay the task of making pancake batter, then works at slicing bagels. Once Jay seems a little more comfortable with the situation, Magnus starts speaking. "Okay, so like I said, my name is Magnus Chase, I'm about seventeen--" Eighteen, but considering that he's not ever going to age past sixteen, it's easier to not get into that, "--and my pronouns are he and him. And you?"

Jay seems a bit confused, but responds. "Jay Wilson, um...I guess fifteen, and..." They bite their lips. "She and her." 

Magnus nods. "Great. Now, Jay, why are you looking for work?"

"I...I'd rather not say."

"Because while we aren't looking for help, if you need somewhere to stay, whether it's for a few days or long-term, you can stay here. That's what we're here for." Magnus puts aside the mountain of bagels and comes over to examine the pancake batter. "Perfect. Leave that to sit while I turn on the griddle." The kitchen has one of the weirdest stoves Magnus has ever seen, with six burners and a huge square of steel to the side that took Magnus two weeks to figure out was a griddle. Now he wipes it down with butter, then turns it on to heat up. "Can you grab a bowl out of the cabinet and crack about two dozen eggs into it?" he asks Jay, who does as he asks, still looking baffled about the whole situation. Once or twice she starts to say something, then thinks better of it.

Magnus doesn't push her for an answer about staying here. He knows if he did she'd probably just flee. The idea of a strange guy offering a place to stay has 'trap' written all over it. Instead, he gives her various tasks to do while he makes the pancakes, mostly just mixing up the eggs, setting out the warming trays, putting a stack of plates and silverware next to said warming plates, and pulling out frozen hash browns and sausage. By the time the pancakes are all done and the eggs are scrambling in a pan, Jay is starting to look a little more comfortable. She helps him fill the trays with breakfast goods, everything from pancakes and bacon to veggie sausage and quava juice.

Then Blitz and Hearth are coming down the stairs, the kids following them, and Magnus shoos Jay out of the kitchen. He can hear Hearth laughing--probably from something Hannah signed--and Blitzen greeting kids as he opens the door to let the visitors in. Among them, Alexs voice is loudest, which surprises Magnus. She hasn't joined Chase Space for breakfast since they opened, saying she has a bet going with Halfborn about how many pigs feet TJ can steal from the girl at the table next to theirs before she skewers him. Magnus isn't sure if that's just an excuse to avoid him, or if there is something going on at breakfast that he never wants to get involved with. Either way, his face turns red at the sound of her shouting, "Hey Beantown, you better be decent!"

"Who's Beantown?" Jay mutters, confused. She glances at his face and looks ready to start laughing.

"Go eat," he says, "Shoo." Snickering, Jay complies. Magnus sighs and starts pulling out ham and cheese for sandwichs. For now, all he can hear is clinking silverware and quiet chatter from the dining room. Magnus hums under his breath as he hunts down the bread.

"Is that  _Frozen_ you're humming, Magnus?"

At the sound of Alex's voice, Magnus bangs his head on the top of the cabinet. Humiliation complete, Magnus retreats out of the cabinet with a bag of bread in each hand. "Shut up and help me make sandwiches," he says, knowing it's a weak defense. Alex doesn't refuse, though. She opens up a loaf of bread and starts assembling ham and cheese sandwiches, putting them in bags labeled H&CH, while Magnus makes cheese and tomato sandwiches and chicken sandwiches without any cheese, packing them into CH&T and C bags. They started doing this about a month back, packing up sandwiches, two bottles of water, and a thing of trail mix into bags, and leaving the bags outside with a sign that says "free to take" and a list of ingredients for dietary concerns. Magnus is happy to see that a month into it, almost all of them get taken before eleven am.

It's nice working in the kitchen with Alex. She doesn't talk as much as usual, focused on making each sandwich perfect. When Magnus glances over at her, she's got her freshly dyed green hair pulled back with a bandana Sam bought. It's the genderfluid colors, and it should clash with her hair, not make her look even cuter, especially when one lock falls out and she tucks it back impatiently. She's wearing a lime green crop top and black skinny jeans that Magnus is fairly certain just became illegal for being way too tight. "How come you came here for breakfast?" Magnus asks her as she slides the third finished bag onto a tray.

Alex shrugs, her shirt sliding up as she does so to reveal about half an inch of skin that Magnus has to carefully avoid looking at. Instead, he occupies himself with getting water bottles. "The bet got called off after TJ choked on a pig's foot." Alex gives a sly grin. "You missed such a show, Maggie. It looked like he was deepthr--"

"CHILDREN," Magnus interrupts loudly, because he does not need to think about ANYONE deepthroating ANYONE this early in the morning. 

Alex raises an eyebrow, probably tempted to point out that the only kid in the other room under fourteen is Hannah, who won't hear anything anyway. Much to Magnus's relief, she doesn't push it. "Right. Children. Anyway, the bet got called off after that. Not that TJ cares. Apparently choking on a pigs foot is cute, because he's taking that girl--Lena, I think her name is--out on a date later today."

"Lucky guy." Magnus whistles. Only in Valhalla could choking to death on your breakfast be considered flirting. 

"He's lucky Halfborn agreed to ignoring the bet for today," Alex says dryly, "Or I might have had to kill him myself."

"What's the forfeit?" Magnus is curious. He knows Halfborn and Alex have all sorts of bets going on. Usually they end in a draw because neither is willing to back down. Usually Magnus or Mallory are dragged in to ref, and the rest of the hall ends up involved one way or another. But this pig's foot thing hasn't been discussed in front of him at all, except for when Alex used it as an excuse to get out of breakfast. Magnus had actually been wondering if maybe Alex made the whole thing up because she didn't want to be around him.

"Nothing important," Alex dismisses immediately, which makes Magnus suspicious. Usually Alex is all too happy to tell him what Halfborn will have to do when he loses. More than ever, Magnus is convinced this is just a made up bet. He's hurt that Alex won't tell him the truth, but he decides today isn't the day to confront her about it, not when she's being so friendly. "Come on, Beantown, you have to eat too." Alex drags him into the dining room.

The dining room is chaos as always, but it's a good kind of chaos. Hannah is signing excitedly at Hearth in ASL--something about her dream last night or a project due today-while Hannah devours a plate of pancakes almost as tall as her head and Hearth picks at some fruit. Next to Hearthstone, Blitzen is having an argument with Jay while he holds hands with Hearth. Magnus suspects it's to do with the outfit Jay is wearing. Holly chugs coffee while maneuvering a jam-covered piece of toast around the latest book she's reading, and next to her Liam is falling asleep over his sugar-packed breakfast of pancakes drowning in table syrup. As it is, his hair is in danger of getting coated in the stuff if someone doesn't wake him up. Danny is back again from wherever she was, scarfing down a bowl of oatmeal like someone will steal it from her if she's not fast enough, and there's a taller girl next to her giving a strong 'fuck off' vibe as she drinks a huge mug of hot chocolate and tries to talk Danny into eating some bacon or eggs. Magnus isn't sure if Danny is vegan or if she's just really picky, but he's never seen her eat anything other than oatmeal or fruit. The two clearly know each other, though this is the first time Magnus has seen the older girl here, and while he's tempted to go introduce himself, he doesn't want to scare them off. Leslie sits by Hannah eating eggs and toast, though they keep getting distracted by a coloring book they brought to the table.

Magnus makes his way through the room, returning the good morning he gets from regulars and greeting a few friendly looking newbies. He ignores the rest, the ones who eye him warily and hold onto their plates, or are ready to fly out the door if anyone so much as hints they might not be welcome. He's learned the hard way it's better to leave those guys alone, let them settle in and see how everyone else acts. He pretends not to notice the two grizzled veterans sharing coffee and eggs, eyeing everyone around them nervously. The place is supposed to be a home for teens and kids, but that doesn't mean Magnus is gonna kick some poor guy out because he's a couple years (or decades) above the cut.

 Magnus fills a plate with breakfast and looks over to see Alex sitting with Hearth and Blitz, waving at him as she works at demolishing a breakfast with more sugar than an entire Dunkin Donut's. He considers going to sit with her, but elects to sit at one of the emptier spots instead. It's too early to deal with Alex, and he's annoyed about the pig's foot thing, too, now. Why couldn't she just say she didn't want to be around him? A thought occurs to him. Maybe Alex has been dating someone and that's why he never sees her in the mornings. Probably someone she met at those pottery classes she's always trying to get him to come to. Probably some tall buff guy who can actually fight a battle without help and actually survives the daily battle at Valhalla. Or some sweet and sensitive guy who Alex is teaching to throw mugs. Magnus can see them there in the room, some faceless stranger sitting at a potter's wheel with a lump of clay, Alex's arms around them as she guides the clay. Her hair pulled back with a headband so it puffs up a little, a tank top that shows off her arms, perspiration dripping down her...

No. Magnus shakes himself out of the thought. He eats his breakfast and watches the others glumly, studiously keeping his attention away from Alex Fierro. Maybe it's just Magnus's imagination, but breakfast seems to take twice as long as normal. Out of desperation, he strikes up a conversation with the girl next to him about the newest season of Doctor Who. He vaguely remembers seeing her a year or two ago before Valhalla. Magnus had been in a better mood than usual, since he'd managed to get money pick-pocketing some dumb rich guy after several failures, and Amir had not only had falafel for Magnus he'd had schwarma. So when Magnus had seen this girl, he'd felt bad for her, since she clearly hadn't figured out any way to survive. He'd given her part of his schwarma and five bucks. The girl clearly remembers him, since she spends half the conversation glancing at him shyly or blushing. Magnus supposes she's pretty, with skin mottled brown and big blue eyes, but the conversation leaves him feeling even more awkward, since he keeps almost glancing at Alex.

Finally the clock strikes eight. Blitzen, in typical fashion, completely panics. "Julie, do you have your homework packed?" Julie grumbles assent, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hearth, you need to walk Hannah to her bus stop or the bus won't stop for her." Blitzen seems to have forgotten that the bus won't stop because Hannah can't hear it coming and frequently ignores it. 

"Danny, you take the same bus as Hannah, right? Can you go with her instead?" Magnus says, hoping Danny will say yes. She's not technically a member of the household, she comes in too infrequently, but she seems to be warming up to the others.

Danny starts to shake her head, but the girl next to her cuts in. "I walk Danny to the bus, Hannah can tag along with us." Blitz signs this to Hannah, who signs back  _yes, Danny is nice._ That's one problem down at least. Magnus is curious who the girl with Danny is, but now isn't the time to be interrogating her. Blitzen is bustling to the kitchen to grab snacks and lunch bags, because Magnus may have taken on the role of free lunch outside, but Blitzen is in charge of school lunches. Hearthstone jokingly calls Blitz "house mom," and Blitz seems to take it as a badge of honor.

Leslie, Liam, Julie, and Holly all take the same bus to the local high school. While Liam, Leslie, and Julie are all locals and were attending the high school before their situations forced them to come here instead, Holly is from another city entirely, and Hearth and Blitz had to go in about two weeks ago and fill out a bunch of paperwork so she could start going with the other kids to school. Before that, Holly just hung around all day reading law books and helping out around the house, looking nervous the entire time. Now that she's able to go to school again, she seems much more relaxed. Another side benefit of her going to school is that she helps Leslie with their schoolwork. Now Liam runs upstairs to grab his backpack and probably frantically scribble down some last minute homework, Julie follows him, collecting her backpack and heels that Magnus has no idea how she walks in, and Holly helps Leslie with their coat, which can be a five-to-ten minute project if Leslie doesn't get help.

When Liam and Julie come back down, Blitzen comes out to give them their lunches and remind them to pay attention. "And please for the love of Odin, don't get in another fight, Julie," Blitz scolds, "I know they're jerks, but if you beat them up all that will happen is you'll get in trouble and I'll have to come in for another conference. If you behave, when you come home we can work on some dress designs along with your homework, how's that?"

"Love you too, Mom," Julie says jokingly.

Blitz scowls, but she leans down and kisses his cheek and he softens. "You kids," he grumbles. "Go, hurry, I don't want you to miss your bus!" He waves as they race out the door.

Jay is standing and gathering dirty dishes, but Alex gently takes them out of the younger girl's arms. "Go talk to Maggie," Magnus hears Alex say, "He won't bite, I promise." Magnus goes into the kitchen and starts packing up leftovers (not that there are much). A few minutes later, Jay comes in.

"How was breakfast?" he asks her, not wanting her to feel like she needs to jump right into whatever she wants to say.

"It--it was good," she says, shuffling in place and looking anxious. "Kind of loud."

"It usually is," Magnus says apologetically. "We're thinking about establishing another room as sort of a 'quiet dining room,' but so far we aren't quite sure where it would be, so we're sticking a pin in it. But breakfast is usually our busiest time. Lunch is pretty quiet, though, since most of the kids are off at school."

"I miss school," Jay says, probably more to herself than to Magnus. Magnus stacks dirty dishes in the sink and chooses not to respond. He waits for Jay to speak again. "Those kids--you let them stay here?"

"Yup," Magnus replies promptly. "We try to treat this as a home for those who can't stay at home. You don't have to tell us why you need a place, we won't pry."

"And it doesn't cost anything?" Jay has a 'what's the catch' look on her face.

"Nope." Magnus shakes his head. "I know what it's like not to have a place to sleep. There are a few rules, nothing major. We won't ask for any personal information, but if you have any dietary restrictions or medical issues you think we should know about, let us know. If you need medication, doctors appointments, that sort of thing, we can help. If you want to keep going to school but don't want to under your parents address, we can help with that." Magnus's original idea had been just healing any kid who needed medical stuff, but Blitz and Sam had shot that down pretty much right off the bat, much to his disappointment. There are other rules, but he's certainly not going to tell Jay the rules about getting high or drunk or having sex. He has a feeling she's already more than a little overwhelmed by what he said.

Magnus leaves Jay in the kitchen to think while he goes out to the dining room. The visitors have cleared out, and only Alex is left, sweeping the floor and humming. Magnus tries to rush in and out without her noticing, but no luck. "Hey Beantown," she calls before he can leave. 

"Yeah?" Magnus squeaks. He clears his throat. "Where's Hearth and Blitz?" There, now he sounds a little more normal.

"Hearth insisted on walking Hannah to the bus even though she's got Danny and that punk with her, so Blitz insisted on walking with Hearth. They should be back soon." Alex shrugs. "Those two are so--"

"Close?" Magnus offers.

"Sappy," Alex finishes. "I can't imagine being that sweet." Magnus thinks of all the times Alex has been that gentle, but chooses not to argue. Alex may be nicer than she's willing to admit, but saying anything is basically telling Alex to decapitate him at the beginning of each battle for the next week. "Speaking of disgustingly cute relationships, have you spoken to your cousin recently?"

"No, not in a while," Magnus admits. "I spoke to Percy last week through iris messaging, though."

Alex laughs. "Did he show you new pictures of Estelle?"

"Better," Magnus says, grinning, "He showed me a video. I've never seen a guy get so excited over a baby blowing drool bubbles. He was like, 'Magnus, look, I was watching Estelle for Mom this weekend and she ROLLED OVER IN HER SLEEP!' Like dude, babies do that all the time. But no, Estelle is going into the Olympics for rolling over in her sleep."

"Hey, Estelle would totally win the thumb-sucking competition," Alex says with a smirk. "She's a godsdamned champion at it."

"Percy will cheer her on at every event."

"He'll be like one of those stage moms. THAT'S MY BABY SISTER! GO GET 'EM, TIGER!" They burst into laughter at the thought of Percy cheering on Estelle as she sucks her thumb. After a few minutes, they calm down.

"So...what is the forfeit?" Magnus asks, hoping to catch Alex off guard. It works.

"What forfeit?" Magnus's heart sinks. It's not a real bet, then. He's just about to leave, when Alex reddens. "Oh. That forfeit. Would you believe me if I said it's nothing, Beantown?"

"No," Magnus says, frowning. "So there's no bet? You just made up the story?"

"No, of course not!" Alex says, her eyes wide and face red, "It--it's just stupid, is all--I didn't want to tell you..."

"So what is it?" Magnus presses. Alex mumbles something he can't hear. "I have no idea what you just said, Alex."

"It was to ask you on a date!" Alex blurts out.

Color floods Magnus's face. "You--the dare--" He's not sure what he's trying to say, because maybe he thought Alex had finally decided how she felt about him, but now she's saying it was a bet, so if that's what she had to do if she lost does that mean she doesn't like him? Even though she kissed him twice? He doesn't know what he's trying to say, but it doesn't matter, because before he can get out a coherent sentence, Alex is gone, leaving him standing there like a dumbass.

"Um...Magnus?" Magnus looks up at Jay's voice. Jay looks rather small, twisting her shirt nervously, but finally she says, "I think I'd like to stay here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: The Chase Space is a four story house  
> First story has two bedrooms and the living space (kitchen, dining room, living room, etc)  
> Second story and third story has six bedrooms  
> Fourth story has four bedrooms  
> Attic has four rooms that can be used as bedrooms and one master suite. Hearth and Blitz sleep in the master suite. Magnus sleeps in one room.  
> Basement has four rooms that can be converted to bedrooms


	3. A Day Out (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder for everyone that this story skips around, and that I only have a tentative timeline hammered out. Please feel free to point out corners I've written myself into. The Chase Space is open in July, according to Ship of the Dead (I think), but I think that's the next summer, not the one they do everything in. So Hannah arrives in early spring before they open, opening in May but only picking up speed around June and July. Five months later, Jay arrives in October. This chapter takes place in April.
> 
> If anyone's interested, here are kids who get introduced this chapter:
> 
> Amy - short, chubby, curvy girl with cool brown skin, wild blonde hair she dyes purple and black, and brown eyes. Bipolar. 14 years old. Attends school with the others but skips a lot. When she skips she usually visits Blitzen, who scolds her for skipping and then lets her work on her projects in the back.
> 
> Mary - 11 years old, a temperamental girl who is often mean to Hannah when she loses her temper but has a crippling fear of abandonment. Reddish-brown hair, freckled skin, big green eyes.
> 
> Drew - a sharp-as-tacks 12 year old boy with black hair he has wildly styled, blue eyes, and dark tan skin covered in freckles. Jokes around a lot and loves pranks, but tends to hoard food and hide. Has some klepto issues and will lie to cover his tracks.

When Blitzen wakes up, the house is peacefully quiet for a change. Blitzen loves waking up next to Hearth. The elf snores like a chainsaw and always ends up wrapped around Blitz, treating the dwarf almost like a teddy bear. Blitz has to carefully untangle himself from Hearth without waking him up, shivering a bit as he exits the warmth of the bed and tempted to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, there's always something to do, so Blitzen reluctantly makes his way to the bathroom for morning ablutions.

Half an hour into Blitz getting ready for the day, a bleary-eyed Hearth stumbles into the bathroom, yawning and blinking as he grabs a toothbrush out of the cabinet, not even bothering to look to see if it's his own before putting toothpaste on and brushing. Thankfully, it is Hearth's, not Blitzens. The two have a routine down pat at this point. Blitz exits the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist and removing his shower cap as Hearth enters the shower. Hearth hates cold showers, so he always goes second. While Hearth either showers or falls back asleep in the foggy box, Blitz moisturizes and combs his frizzy black locks, taming them so they don't look like he just rolled out of bed. It takes about fifteen minutes, and while Blitz is happy to take longer, he doesn't have the time these days, so he has to settle for this. He washes off his hands and moisturizes his face as well, before applying cologne and going to get dressed. Somewhere around the point where Blitzen is hunting down the jacket that matches his slacks, Hearth emerges from the bathroom. Blitz jumps, then turns when the elf taps his shoulder. _What time is it,_ the elf, hair dripping wet.

 _Seven thirty_ , Blitz signs, definitely not paying attention to the water dripping down Hearth's lean body.  _It's Saturday, don't worry_. Magnus comes sporadically during the week, depending on how much is going on in Valhalla, Alex even less often. But every Saturday Samirah and Amir come over early and take over Chase Space. Sam tutors the younger kids while Amir cooks in the kitchen and talks to the older kids. It's Amir who was able to help Julie contact her brother, who's flying over next month to deal with miles of legal paperwork so he can take responsibility for Julie. And when Holly was trying to find the right books in the library, Sam was the one who helped. Blitz doesn't know what he and Hearth would do without them.

Hearth's lips twitch when he sees Blitz holding three different jackets, all nearly the same shade of blue.  _Are you looking for your jacket?_ he signs.

"Yes!" Blitz throws his hands up in frustration. "It's this shade of blue," he points to his pants, " and the lining has tiny diamonds." Hearths eyes crinkle up with amusement. "Have you seen it?"

_Yes._

"So where is it?"

 _Leslie has it._ Hearth uses Leslies namesign: the sign for cloud with his hands in the shape of the letter L. Now that Hearth mentions it, Blitz remembers giving Leslie the jacket. There had been an event at a nearby bookstore that the kids wanted to go to, so Blitz went with them, and during the event Leslie almost had a meltdown from the noise. Blitz had given Leslie his jacket and a pair of earbuds and Leslie had calmed down enough to return. Blitz had just forgotten to get it back. Blitz sighs, knowing that now isn't the time to ask for it back, and makes a note to take Leslie to the shop after school for some new clothes. He drops the jackets to the ground and returns to getting dressed, settling for a pair of dark grey jeans, a pale silk dress shirt, and a deep purple-blue blazer that matches his ascot. Hearth dresses in the same outfit he does almost every day--battered jeans, a white t-shirt, and a candy-striped scarf--and vanishes downstairs. One of these days Blitz is going to throw out all of Hearthstone's plain white t-shirts and get him some nice button-ups instead. Then again, the ornery elf might just walk around shirtless.

When Blitz makes it downstairs, he finds a cheerfully chaotic scene. The room smells like coffee and chocolate as usual, a clear sign of both Sam and Magnus's presence.The table is slightly fuller than usual, as Magnus and Alex have chosen to come over, and TJ followed them. TJ loves Chase Space, and Blitz is pretty sure if TJ could he'd live here. As it is, he visits 3-4 times a week and always stays overnight, playing video games with the older kids, having tea parties with the younger kids, and talking to everyone. Hall nineteen seems to have someone representing them at all times, whether it's Magnus helping with breakfast and talking to newbies; Alex helping out the kids like Jay and Liam, even if it's just dying their hair together; TJ being willing to provide a shoulder to cry on, an ally in a video game, or the perfect tea party guest; Halfborn who always has something new to teach the kids and will let Hannah and Mary go to town on his hair; or even Mallory, who insists on holding self-defense lessons for anyone who sits still long enough. It's a strange home, but Blitz loves it.

At the head of the table are Sam and Amir sitting almost close enough to touch, but not quite. Blitz approves of Sam's outfit; a cream colored sweater and brown pants, her hijab a soft rose, while Amir is casual in t-shirt, jeans, and denim jacket. Every once in a while Amir directs his smile Sams way, and Sam blushes, ducking her head. Next to Sam, Alex sits, wearing his signature pink-and-green outfit, this time dark pink jeans, white t-shirt, and a green vest. He's apparently playing 'male chaperone' today, since every time Amir smiles at Sam, Alex tisks. "You kids better not do anything crazy," Alex scolds Sam and Amir as Blitz passes. "That means you, Amir. No holding hands or anything." Amir turns red and stammers excuses, but Sam smacks Alex.

"Stop teasing, brother," she says, "At least I'm in a relationship with the boy I like." Blitz wonders why Sam is being so open, then notices Magnus at the other end of the table, sitting between Amy and a regular visiting kid, some seventeen year old named Jordan who dresses like a rich private school kid. Magnus is wearing scuffed jeans, a t-shirt, and a tan hoodie, and casting half-wistful, half-sullen looks at Alex. That explains it. Magnus and Alex have been keeping far apart for months, going so far as to avoid being in Chase Space on the same days. This is the first time Blitz has seen both of them in the same room for weeks. Whatever. They're old enough to work out their problems themselves. Blitz worries more about Jordan, who comes in way more often with bruises and wrecked clothes than Blitz would like. They've told him he's welcome to stay several times, but he's determined to stick it out until his birthday, when he'll be legally able to leave. In the meantime, at least Chase Space provides somewhere he can spend the majority of his time. Still, Blitz is always afraid one day Jordan will come in with an injury more serious than bruises. 

Amy, sitting on the other side of Magnus, is falling asleep into her eggs. Blitz feels sorry for the girl. Diagnosed with Bipolar disorder shortly after coming to live at Chase Space (courtesy of Asgardian insurance,) Amy is currently on her second round of medicine trials, none of which seem to be going well. It makes Blitz want to go up and strangle the doctor, shouting, "DO SOMETHING! STOP SCREWING AROUND WITH HER HEALTH!" But he knows it won't help. Amy has to go through these gods-cursed medicine trials so the doctor knows exactly what cocktail of drugs helps Amy with both her bouts of mania and depression. Blitz can't snap his fingers and make the trials be over, any more than he can make socks look good with sandals. All he can do is provide support.

Blitz passes Liam, who is attempting to eat all the food, Danny, who keeps getting her bangs in her yogurt and fruit by accident, and Leslie. Leslie is scrunched up in their chair, wearing a heavy black leather trenchcoat that Blitz is both pretty sure belongs to Hearth, and doesn't go at all with the outfit of a acid-yellow dress and olive green leggings. Leslie is chewing the ends of their brown-and-blue streaked hair hair and humming in a high-pitched voice, clearly unhappy with the level of noise in the room. Blitz thinks maybe he should do something, but before he can, TJ appears in the room and slips a pair of headphones over Leslie's head. Noise sensitivity drastically decreased, Leslie immediately drops their hair and glances up at TJ, who grins and ruffles Leslie's hair, before sitting next to them and putting down two plates of food. Leslie reaches out and pats TJ's hand, the closest to a hug Leslie is usually comfortable with, then starts eating.

Jay is sitting at the end of the table, two new visitors on her left listening to her gush about the place, Mary and Drew on her other side. For once, both kids look subdued. True, Drew is still surreptitiously tucking breakfast pastries into that bag he carries around, and Mary keeps shooting nasty looks at the two visitors Jay is talking to, clearly unhappy that Jay isn't paying attention to her, but it's a far cry from their behavior other mornings. Jay, showing a sense of style that brings a tear to the dwarf's eye, has dyed her hair a bright magenta that fades to purple, and is wearing a perfectly coordinated outfit. A sleeveless white button-up with a high collar and a black scarf contrasts with her warm pale golden brown skin, while a billowy green skirt with apples falls below her knees. A straw cloche hat with a black ribbon completes the look.

Hearth comes down as Blitz is sitting, and he stops to sign something to Sam, who grins, before grabbing an apple and sitting next to Blitz. Hearth takes a big bite of the apple and reaches across the table to tap Hannahs shoulder. When she looks up, he signs  _are you looking forward to today?_

Hannah beams and signs rapidly.  _Yes! When are we going?_

 _Soon. We'll leave after Blitz goes to work._ Hearth has been planning this trip for a while. Hannah had asked if they could go to the Boston Mall to see a movie, but they'd had to schedule it for a day that they had at least four adults since Blitz had talked Hearth down from going by himself. Hearth was good with the kids, but Hearth and half a dozen kids in a crowded mall seemed a bad idea. Blitz can't go, since he has work. And they need someone to stay at Chase Space in case something happens. Hearth, Alex, Sam, and Amir will be going to the mall, taking the younger kids, Amy, and Leslie. Magnus is staying at Chase Space. And Blitz is going to Blitzen's Best, along with the older kids who help out in the shop. Blitz tries not to worry, but he can't help thinking of all the horrible things that could happen today. He's tempted to insist on coming--Holly and Jay can take care of the shop, right?--but he knows Hearth will never forgive him for babying Hearth.

Near the end of breakfast, Holly appears from upstairs, still braiding her hair back and looking bleary eyed. She starts to pour herself a cup of coffee, then her nose twitches and she stops, opting for a cup of hot chocolate instead. She puts two apples and hard boiled eggs on a plate next to a dish of plain oats, then disappears into the kitchen, likely to eat in the breakfast nook. Blitz considers scolding her, since one of the house rules is meals are eaten at the table as a community, but decides against it. She clearly isn't feeling well. 

Once breakfast is done, Alex disappears into the kitchen with TJ to do the dishes, while Amir puts away the leftovers and Magnus brings sandwich bags outside. Blitz goes upstairs to grab his design books and put them in a bag, then helps Hannah find her shoes. And then helps Amy with her hair. And then Liam insists on showing Blitz a sheet of completed math homework--Liams worst subject--and of course Blitz has to stop and help the poor kid because he still doesn't have the order of operations down pat. He means to take only five minutes, but by the time he's made it downstairs, almost twenty minutes have passed. At least he's not the only one held up.

At eight thirty, everyone's assembled, coats and hats and shoes are on, and it's time to go. Hearth gives Blitz a soft kiss, then walks one direction with a kids hand in each of his, while Blitz and his group go the other way.

* * *

Blitz loves his shop. The front is a wide open space with racks of clothes in rows, mannequins scattered throughout the store modeling the latest fashion. There's a sleek counter and register in the center back and a changing area to each side, and restrooms to the side. The shop is mostly neutrals, white and pale brown with gold trim and accents, making the clothing stand out even more. There are two display windows in the front with heavy curtains so Blitzen doesn't turn to stone in the middle of the day, because petrification is bad for business. Even with no sunlight, the store looks naturally lit with the two chandeliers Freya gave Blitz as a store-opening gift. Music plays from all corners, usually quiet classical music or whatever's popular, though whenever Hearth visits Blitz changes it to dubstep, since Hearth loves it. The best part about Blitzen's Best? It's only five minutes away from home. Blitz opens the shop at nine thirty every morning, and closes at seven, nine on weekends. Hey, he needs to be home in time for dinner and bedtime or the kids go crazy.

Seven minutes after leaving Chase Space, they arrive and get to work immediately. Blitz likes to keep his mannequins constantly cycling, so Saturday morning he always has half of them dressed in new outfits. With about thirty mannequins on the floor and twenty in the windows, it can take a while by himself. Especially today, since it's April, which means he's going to be flooded with formal dress orders in the next few weeks and therefore needs to dress almost all the mannequins in new outfits. Thankfully, both Jordan and Jay have great senses of style and are eager to help. While the other kids carry in mannequins that are getting changed before going to their usual tasks, Blitz flies about the room, correcting Jordan--"No Jordan, you don't just drape the tie over the shoulder, you have to tie it; this shirt needs a Windsor knot; try a silver pocket square to bring out the pinstripes in this suit, or maybe a dusky rose to help soften it a bit."--and watching Jay arrange dresses before point out ways in which she can improve them--"Try pinning the overskirt in place so it doesn't move while on display; that looks good, but it needs a pop of color, try a nice chunky piece to go with the modern cut; that yellow is just a bit too soft to go with that shade of green."--between making his own outfits. In no time at all, the windows are filled up and the store floor is populated by fabulously dressed mannequins. While the men's display window is mostly neutral suits with the pocket squares and ties providing most of the color, the women's display window is a rainbow of dresses.

As soon as Julie flips the sign on the door to open, Holly retreats to the back with the ledgers. She is clearly uncomfortable with all the dresses and frippery around her, and Blitz isn't going to argue considering she has a good head for numbers and prefers working the books. He's always glad Magnus suggested this idea. It helps the older kids who frequent the shelter, because having a good job history is always important for resumes, and Blitz pays them well, too, but it also helps Blitz. Interviews are a nightmare. Sure, it means he doesn't necessarily end up with kids who want to work here because they love fashion, but he hasn't been unable to find something for them to do yet. Holly started working here a month and a half ago and he doesn't have any complaints. Well, except for the few times her boyfriend has shown up. Blitz knows he's not actually Holly's father, and he has no right to boss her around, but he doesn't like her boyfriend and worries about her.

Customers swarm in and Blitz is brought back to reality. His next few hours are extremely busy. He helps customers pick their best dress and gives style tips while Julie rings them up at the register. Jordan helps the young men figure out the mysteries of getting a properly fitted suit, and Jay darts around throwing compliments at people and helping push the more hesitant customers to try that flashy dress or that daring blouse. Julie and Liam trade turns on the register, one ringing people up while the other goes around and does minor cleaning.

He straightens up the girl's section after a mother and daughter go through and the mother practically throws everything off the rack in order to find the best dress. Privately, he thinks the dress she ends up purchasing her daughter looks awful, a shade of pink that makes the girl look pinched, but he knows better than to insult customers tastes. Especially customers who spend two hours trying on every dress in the store and decide it's easier to buy the five best dresses, since she's apparently going to some sort of wedding with her daughter serving as the flower girl. Not only that, but she purchases five pairs of underwear and a strapless bra, and declares the store the best she's ever been. A mixed bag, that.

He talks to girls about custom dresses, since he offers that service, sketching potential dress designs and studying fabric swatches over cups of drinking chocolate. Young men come in, asking for custom suits, and Blitz beams, since he gets asked that far less than he'd like. Kids frustrated with their choices, not sure what they're comfortable with, talk to him, and he helps them figure out what they want, because no matter who you are, you deserve to be fabulous, and Blitz wants to help them reach that.

He sketches new concepts during lulls. A binder that looks and feels like a simple undershirt, yet still serves the function of a binder. Dresses designed to be worn in wheelchairs that have huge billowing skirts which won't catch on their wheels. Golden slippers that look danity and delicate, yet will hold up for ages in hard conditions, and leave feet comfortable. Designs that may or may not see the light of day, whether in his regular line or the one that mortals don't know about. 

At twelve thirty, Blitz sends Liam out for lunch. When Liam returns, they eat in the back in shifts. Sending the kids is always crazy, since they each tend to pick peculiar food that Blitz doesn't see the appeal of, but he can't go himself. At least Liam is predictable, unlike Julie, who usually grabs the first thing she sees. Liam always gets the same thing. Mocha lattes with extra espresso, three large orders of greasy fries, cheese puffs, and giant hamburgers (giant veggie burgers for Jordan and Blitzen, since Jordan is vegetarian and Blitzen refuses to eat the heart-attack-inducing things). Blitz's theory is that Liam was raised in a mostly organic family, so since he came out as trans and got booted, eating junk food is his way of giving them the middle finger. All seems to be going well, until Holly throws up at the smell of all the grease. Blitz doesn't know what's wrong, but he sends her home after that, since if she's getting sick it'd be better to be home where she can at least rest. It's not Liams fault, and they tell him that, but Liam clearly blames himself, and the day is a bit more subdued after that.

At seven o clock, Blitzen bids good night to the last customer and shuts the door with a satistfied sigh. He may have work he's bringing home, but at least he'll be home. It takes little to no time to clean up, with all hands on deck. Blitz even gets a chance to sneak some new treats for Jay to play with into his bag. Jay loves fashion, and he wants to encourage it, even if Hearth teases that he's spoiling her, especially with the custom-measurements dress form he purchased for her a month ago. Really, he just got tired of seeing Jay drag Jordan off to be a human dress form whenever he came over.

The walk is short, but peaceful, and Blitz is imagining what he might make for dinner when he walks into someones back. That someone's back turns out to be Liam, frozen in shock in the hallway. Blitz looks in the same direction as the kids, then freezes himself. Because in the kitchen, pressed against a wall, are Alex Fierro and Magnus Chase, making out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for those of you who wanted a resolution to last chapter, but I'm a mean mean author who likes to skip around. 
> 
> Can I just say that Blitz's morning routine was really difficult for me? Like I had to research five different things just to figure out what Blitz does with his hair and I'm still not sure. And he's a fashionable dwarf, so this kinda stuff is important. It's also why EVERYONES clothes are described. Obviously Blitz pays attention to what they wear.
> 
> I have no idea what Blitz sells. I'm picturing high-end clothing of all styles, with a special line of defensive clothing, and specializing in formalwear and jewelry I expect he orders shoes from some high-end company.
> 
> On another note, I've been considering starting a Patreon. I'm a broke eighteen year old (actually, nineteen years tomorrow) who spends a majority of her free time crafting or writing fanfiction and I'm not sure whether it would be a good idea. It'd be a monthly Patreon, and potentially could help me free up some of my free time that I spend job-searching and stressing about lack of job so I can write more, but I don't know if anybody would be interested in contributing. Donators would probably get fanfic in advance, get to see me live-write sometimes maybe, or get monthly digital post-cards. Things like that. If you think it's a good idea, would be so kind as to toss me a buck or two, or think it's a terrible idea, please weigh in!


	4. A Day Out (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hearth's version of what happens during a day out. Also, lots of ASL.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I left everyone hanging with that last chapter...I promise it'll be resolved...  
> Just not this chapter.  
> *cackles evilly*
> 
> What are y'all into right now? I've been listening to the soundtracks for BMC and DEH near constantly since mid-September sprinkled with some Hamilton and Into The Woods (movie version). I've been listening and relistening to Magnus Chase and recently started relistening to Trickster's Choice/Queen. Probably my least favorite series by Tamora Pierce, but it's still hers, so I listen to it. I'm weak, what can I say.
> 
> I just realized last chapter I forgot to mention where TJ is going. I'll rectify that this chapter.

Hearthstone loves mornings. Blitzen complains that the house is always so loud in the mornings he can't hear himself, but Hearth, for obvious reasons, never has that problem. On the occasion Hearth wakes up first, he loves to kiss Blitz awake for some morning fun, but usually Blitz gets up first and Hearth wakes up to an empty bed. This morning, Blitz is first up. When Hearth enters the bathroom, still feeling half in his dreams, Blitz is in the shower. Hearth can see a foggy outline of the shorter man in the shower, and idly wonders what Blitz is doing that takes him so long in the shower. He grabs a toothbrush at random and starts brushing his teeth.

By the time Hearth has rinsed the toothbrush and spit out minty foam, Blitz is out of the shower, his damp skin glistening as he exits. The dwarf is shorter and stouter than Hearth, but he's solidly built, with a sturdy torso and limbs that are both strong and supple. Hearth watches out of the corner of his eye as Blitz towels the worst of the water off, shivering as he does so, and Hearth wants to wrap his arms around Blitz and distract him from getting ready, but he knows Blitz would refuse it. Instead, Hearth settles for kissing Blitz as he passes and swatting him lightly on the rump, before getting in the shower. Blitz makes a face like he's sighing dramatically, and his hand twitches towards the shower handle like he's about to turn the water to cold to annoy Hearth, who hates cold shower with a passion, but he doesn't. Blitz stays in the bathroom a bit longer, doing whatever Blitz insists on doing to get ready, then goes in the other room to get dressed as Hearth showers. Mostly Hearth just leans against the wall as the hot water rains down on him, considers the possibilities of just going back to sleep in the shower. Still, he eventually exits the shower. Mainly because the water is getting cool and his fingers pruny.

He wraps a towel around his waist and goes in the other room to see Blitz running around their room, clad in a pair of blue pants and a white button-up, looking quite attractive and very panicked. Hearth wonders why the dwarf is panicking. Are they running late? He taps Blitzen's shoulder, then signs when Blitz turns to face him. _What time is it?_

 _Seven thirty._ Blitz has to shift a few jackets he's holding in order to sign. _It's Saturday, don't worry._ Hearth isn't necessarily worried about breakfast, but today is movie day for the kids, and he'd been worried for a minute they were running late.

That worry off his mind, Hearth eyes the jackets in Blitz's arms and tries not to grin. _Are you looking for your jacket?_ he signs. It's the only reason he can think of for Blitz to be holding three jackets that to Hearth look identical.

"Yes!" Hearth sees Blitz's mouth shape the word yes as Blitz throws up his hands and looks close to running them through his perfectly combed hair in frustration. "It's this shade of blue," Hearth sees Blitz say, as Blitz points to his pants. As far as Hearth can tell, all three jackets are that shade of blue. "And the lining has tiny diamonds." None of the jackets in Blitz's hands have diamonds, but Hearth knows which one Blitz is talking about now. "Have you seen it?"

 _Yes._ Hearth doesn't bother trying to hide his grin as an exasperated look spreads across Blitz's face.

"So where is it?"

 _Leslie has it._ Hearth uses Leslies namesign: the sign for cloud with his hands in the shape of the letter L. Hearth doesn't know all the details, but there had been an event Blitz and Magnus took the kids to recently. Blitz had been wearing the jacket on the way there, but when they returned, Leslie was wearing it. If memory serves Hearth right, Leslie has been wearing it, on and off, since then. It's highly unlikely Blitz will be able to get it back without sending the fifteen year old into a meltdown. It seems Blitz realizes that, too, as he gives up the search for the jacket and goes to get new clothes, switching out his blue pants for grey jeans, changing to a silvery-colored button-up, and grabbing a jacket in a deep purple-blue. Blitz looks fabulous as ever, and Hearth is tempted to say so, but knows the dwarf will dismiss it, having a low opinion of himself. Hearth sighs, wishing there were a way he could bring up the confidence of his boyfriend, and knowing it would take a miracle. Instead, Hearth gets dressed himself, then leaves the room while Blitz is still buttoning up his shirt to go downstairs.

earth is heading downstairs when he notices struggles coming from a room as he passes. When he pokes his head in, Hannah is attempting to get dressed and having trouble. The house is so big that pretty much everyone could have their own room, but for the most part the kids have clustered together, with most of them on the second floor. Hannah chose the fourth floor, though. According to Blitz and Magnus, she'd done it to be closer to Hearth, but Hearth can't believe she would do that. Probably she is just smart enough to know the top floors are always the warmest. He stops to help her get her tights pulled on properly, then buttons her dress up with neat, quick fingers. When he finishes, she smiles and throws her arms around him, before running out. Hearth shakes his head, smiling fondly, then picks up the dirty pajamas that Hannah discarded carelessly and tosses them into the laundry basket to be washed later. He straightens up a bit, tucking her bed more neatly, and putting the toys she left lying around in her toybox. Blitz teases him, saying he coddles Hannah, and Hearth returns the favor by jokingly calling Blitz his wife, since the kids all call Blitz Mom. Hearth isn't sure how it started, but he thinks the whole thing is hilarious.

Hearth peeks in at rooms as he passes, but it seems everyone has gone down to breakfast. The rooms where people stayed over last night are mostly neat, with dirty pajamas in laundry baskets and beds made up as neatly as the guest could manage. The beds taken by regulars are less neat, probably because they've gotten comfortable enough to forget making their beds. On the messy end, Mary, Leslie, and Drew don't even make an effort at making their beds, while way on the other end Holly, Danny, and Jay make their beds neatly and promptly, with hospital corners and fluffed pillows. For the most part Hearth ignores the beds, though he dumps the bedding that smells like it hasn't been changed in a month into laundry baskets and puts fresh linens on those beds as a hint to make them. Hearth doesn't touch Drew's at all, though, because he knows the boy will freak out if a single thing moves. Hearth suspects Drew has been forming a bit of a hoard under his bed, which makes Hearth worry about Drew, but now isn't the time to confront him about it. Let Drew get more comfortable and realize he doesn't need to hide and steal to be safe. At least it doesn't smell. Drew is very careful to keep his room clean-smelling. Blitz and Hearth had discussed how cleaning would work before they opened Chase Space, with Magnus and Alex contributing, and they had decided that they wouldn't require the kids to clean the building, but regulars did had to keep their rooms mostly neat. People who stayed only for the night were under no obligations. Hearth keeps catching Blitz cleaning up the kids rooms instead, anyway, because the dwarf is a sucker for the little kid's puppy faces, and even Hearth can't argue when the older kids are spending hours of their afternoons holed up in the library doing homework.

Holly is still in bed when Hearth peeks in, but she's been acting sick on-and-off the last week or so, so Hearth leaves her alone. She'll come down when she's ready.

When Hearth gets down, everyone's clustered around the table eating breakfast. He notices Leslie curled up in a chair wearing a pair of headphones and a trench coat Hearth has been looking for most of this week, but Hearth decides not to argue about it. He makes a note to talk to Blitz about it later, though. Blitz will probably know why Leslie keeps stealing people's clothes and have some brilliant suggestion. Sam and Amir are eating breakfast with Alex sitting between them, pretending to be chaperone, but Hearthstone suspects Alex is doing it to avoid having to sit by himself. The other option would be openly admitting that he's obviously avoiding Magnus like the plague, and Hearth can't see that happening any time soon. Instead, Alex is sitting between Amir and Sam, likely making tasteless jokes considering the sour look on Sams face. Someone needs to smack some sense into those two. When Hearth passes them, he stops and waves at Sam to get her attention before he signs, _just ignore Alex and save up for when he and Magnus get together. That's what I do._ Sam squints a bit as she figures out what he's saying, then her mouth opens in what Hearth knows by now is laughter. Next to her, Alex scowls a bit, and Amir just looks lost. He's trying, but he's only really learned ASL for the alphabet, thank you, water, and button. Magnus is sitting at the other side of the room between Amy, who's head is drooping while she attempts to shovel scrambled eggs into her mouth, and Jordan, who's eating habits and general appearance are neat enough to please any persnickety elf, except for a fading black eye. Jay is sitting with two newbies, seemingly telling them all the wonders of Chase Space, while Mary and Drew pinch each other when she's not looking. Mary and Drew are two newer kids, 11 and 12 years old respectively. While Mary won't say what caused her to leave the foster home she was in (Hearth checks the backgrounds of kids who stay more than a day or two in case there's something he needs to keep an eye out for. Magnus doesn't like the breach of privacy, but Hearth would rather be safe than sorry,) whatever it was was bad. Mary has severe abandonment issues, and she's very aggressive towards the other children. Hearth and Blitz have already been called to her school twice for disciplinary hearings. Drew, on the other hand, behaves much better, despite his ADHD and anxiety. Of course, he's also a compulsive liar and keeps swiping things and hiding them in his room. Hearth hopes eventually Drew will feel safe enough to stop stealing and hoarding so much.

 Hearth isn't particularly hungry, but he knows if he doesn't eat something Blitz will frown and Hannah will decide she's no longer hungry, either, so Hearth grabs an apple as a silent compromise and sits down next to Blitz, who is displaying a healthy appetite. Across from them, Hannah sways cheerily as she eats her breakfast, hair pulled back in a ponytail and a sparkly cardboard tiara she made on her head. Hearth takes a bite of apple, then reaches across the table to tap Hannahs shoulder. When she looks up, he signs _are you looking forward to today?_

Hannah beams, her cardboard tiara sliding to the side a bit, and signs rapidly. _Yes! When are we going?_

 _Soon. We'll leave after Blitz goes to work._ Hearth has been planning this trip for a while, and he's looking forward to it, but he doesn't want to leave before he sees Blitz off. Hannah had asked if they could go to the Boston Mall to see a movie ages ago, but they'd had to schedule it for a day that they had at least four adults since Blitz had refused to let Hearth take a bunch of kids of varying maturity levels to a crowded mall. In hindsight, it was probably for the best, but Hearth had still been mad at Blitz for saying it. Especially since Blitz can't come, due to work, and even if he didn't have work he'd be home in case something happened. So Hearth spent a week or so sulking and giving Blitz the silent treatment until they reached a conclusion.

Hearth, Alex, Sam, and Amir will be going to the mall, taking the younger kids, Amy, and Leslie. Amy doesn't want to stay home, but Blitz has a temporary ban on the store for her after she destroyed a work in process in a fit of rage last time. Leslie almost always hangs out with the younger kids, anyway. They don't seem to like hanging out with kids their own age much. Magnus is staying at Chase Space. And Blitz is going to Blitzen's Best, along with the older kids who help out in the shop. Hearth is proud of Blitz for running such a successful business, but sometimes Hearth wishes Blitz would stay home more often. It's not like there's nothing going on at home. For some reason, their house has been designated a safe place to get high at, which means between eleven and two on school days, the basement fills up with teens who need to get away from it all. Hearth isn't sure what the appeal is, and he doesn't necessarily approve, but it's not his responsibility to police these kids. He simply provides them with snacks and attempts to care for them if they need it, or leaves them alone. As long as they keep a window cracked, he leaves them be, though he does keep an eye out for the signs of an overdose. He really doesn't want to deal with that kind of mess.

Near the end of breakfast, Holly appears from upstairs, looking like she rolled out of bed and stumbled down. Hearth considers asking her what's wrong, but he decides to wait until they get back to see if she's still feeling poorly. It could just be she's not a morning person. Still, Hearth keeps an eye on her, noting that the smell of coffee, which she normally drinks almost as much as Sam, makes her wince and leave it alone to drink hot chocolate instead, and that she picks an extremely plain breakfast, fruit, hard boiled eggs, and plain oatmeal. When she glances at the table, gives an almost imperceptible shake of her head, then vanishes into the kitchen, Hearths suspicions mount. He really needs to keep a closer eye on her. If she's coming down with something, it'd be a good idea to ask Magnus to talk to her. He can give her a subtle healing along with a cup of tea or something and she'll be fine.

After breakfast, Alex and TJ are on dishes duty, with Amir packing up whatever food is left and Magnus putting food outside. Hearth just sits there and drinks his coffee, watching a flurry of action around him, before finally getting up when Sam shoos him out of her way, busy sweeping up the mess on the floor. Hearth scoots, going into the hallway and getting his clipboard. Mary and Drew are yelling at each other, red in the face as they point at a puffy coat between them with neon stripes and make angry gestures. When Hearth intervenes, between reading lips and some rudimentary ASL, he figures out they're arguing over a coat which both of them claim belongs to them. It's easily resolved, since when Hearth points out that Mary is literally wearing her favorite red sparkly coat, she scowls at the solid argument and stops fighting. This leaves Drew to scoop up the abandoned jacket and pull it on, before putting his messenger bag over his shoulder and peeking inside, presumably to make sure everything's still in there. Argument resolved, Hearth gestures for Mary to go brush her hair and she complies, still scowling. With her hair brushed and pinned back with two sparkly red barrettes in the shape of hearts, she looks charming enough to knock an old lady's socks off. Too bad it won't last, what with her hair-trigger temper, Hearth thinks ruefully. He wishes he could find a way to get through to Mary that nobody here is her enemy. Then again, if he could perform that miracle, there are so many things he could do, help Leslie with their sensory issues, make Alex and Magnus talk to each other, bring his brother back and make his father alive and proud of him. They truly are a family of empty cups.

At eight thirty, everyone's assembled, coats and hats and shoes are on, and it's time to go. Hearth kisses Blitz goodbye, then walks off with Hannah and Mary's hands in his, while Blitz and the older kids go the other way. They walk a block or so to the bus stop, and wait for the next bus going to Copley Place. The two story mall is about half an hour away from Chase Space, too far to walk even by himself, let alone a whole group of kids with varying degrees of stamina. Hearth ignores the side-eye from other waiting passengers. Mary and Hannah bounce in place excitedly, for once Mary not picking at Hannah. Once the bus pulls up, Hearth and Sam herd the kids to the back of the bus and get them seated while Alex and Amir pay before joining them and TJ sits with Leslie. Hannah signs excitedly at Alex,  _how long until we get there?_ Alex smiles back at Hannah and signs,  _half an hour. You know that, silly._ Despite Alex's smile, he looks somewhat distant.

* * *

 

When the bus pulls to a stop outside the mall half an hour later, the group pushes off the bus with no small effort. Inside, the mall is almost as crowded as the bus, being a Saturday. Groups of teens are everywhere window shopping, and parents are taking their children on weekend trips. Old ladies are walking the mall for exercise, bumping into people and apologizing briskly before moving on. Hearth is always overwhelmed a bit when they get there. He imagines it's even worse for a hearing person.

Leslie clings to TJ, looking rather nervous, but Hearth knows soon Leslie will get a little more comfortable and relax. They make their way to the theater, which is a huge cinema that plays six different movies at all times. They're here to see some sort of silly animated film, Hearth isn't sure. Movies have never really drawn him in, catering too much to people who aren't deaf. He prefers books, or silent films that don't have any speaking at all if he has to watch something. While Sam and Alex pay for the tickets, Hearth goes with the kids and Amir to get snacks, with TJ trailing behind staring at everything in awe. Having died during the civil war, TJ is constantly amazed by technology. Hearth just hopes TJ doesn't start rambling to someone about "back in his day" or the day will be cut short with them having to bail TJ out of an asylum...again.

Fortunately, nothing disastrous happens during the purchases. They purchase two large popcorns for the group to share, sodas, and some of those weird movie boxed candies, then go down the hall and hand over their tickets to a grumpy-looking attendant about Sam's age. He scowls a bit more at the sight of so many little kids, but he hands over two pairs of closed caption glasses for Hearth and Hannah. Hannah is bouncing even more excitedly as they get closer to the theater, skipping a little with each step.

Once they get into the theater, they split up. Most of them choose to sit in the middle section of seats, where there's a good view of the screen, but Leslie shakes their head and points further up when asked to sit down, so TJ goes to sit with them closer to the back. They end up taking over almost an entire row, with Sam on one end with Amir four seats down, separated by Alex, Amy, and Mary, and Hearth on the other end, Hannah right next to him and Drew and Danny between him and Amir. Hearth swears he sees a woman with two kids under ten stop at their row, then make a face when she sees the motley group and rush her children to the next row. Whatever. It's not his problem if some human mother gets bent out of shape about seeing an unusual group. Hearth glances at Sam, wondering if the kids are making enough noise to bother anyone, but she's bent her head to talk to Mary, likely explaining the preview they're watching right now and reminding her to be quiet when the movie starts. Hearth helps Hannah get her glasses set up properly, then waits for the ads for finish.

The movie goes by faster than Hearth would think possible. Part of the reason is probably that he gets up twice to get popcorn refills for the group, and once to escort Mary and Hannah to the bathroom, so he misses a lot of the boring parts. It's not the most moving movie, though Hearth suspects he misses a lot of the context, being both deaf and an elf, and therefore not at all part of the target demographic. The kids seem to like it, though, which is enough to make Hearth happy. When they get out of the theater and recover from the blinding light compared to the dark theater, Hearth suggests they go get lunch, and the kids all agree with the suggestion, even Leslie, who's looking a bit wide-eyed at the noise, having gotten used to quiet in the theater.

At the food court, they get lunch (mainly hot dogs, pizza, and fries. Never let anyone tell you Hearth doesn't know what children like.) and discuss afternoon plans. Nobody wants to go home and work on homework yet, so Hearth agrees to two hours shopping and then they'll leave. When they started, Blitz and Magnus had insisted that they institute an allowance system, since according to both, kids deserve some pocket money. It all reminds Hearth a bit too much of his home rules, but it makes the kids happy, so he pushes away his feelings and goes along with it.

They decide to stay together instead of splitting up, so the first thing they do is take a vote. Amy proposes visiting Build a Bear, and it's almost unanimous. Hearth has no idea what the store is, but he finds out quickly. Hearth thinks the whole thing seems a little stupid and overpriced, but even Sam and Alex light up at the idea, so somehow, Hearth finds himself dragged through the brightly-colored shop while the kids pick out, stuff, and dress their stuffed animals. And he has to be shown each. Single. One.

Leslie spends a good ten minutes just feeling each type of animal, before settling on a longhorn. They spend quite a while listening to the sounds station, pressing the same button several times in a row, until TJ nudges them gently into picking a button. Once stuffed, Leslie dresses it in a white dress covered in stars and with a pink bow, before showing it to Hearth. He smiles and signs,  _it looks great,_ which isn't a total lie, but Hearth doesn't want Leslie to feel bad. Leslie hugs the cow to their chest, eyes shining, and sits in a corner to wait.

Mary and Drew make theirs separately, yet somehow come up with very similar looking bunnies, both tan with huge floppy ears, both wearing princess crowns. The main difference is that Mary's is wearing a doctor outfit, too, while Drew's is wearing a purple dress with puffy sleeves and a pair of sunglasses. Still, neither look happy at the idea of their stuffed animals being similar, and Amir has to separate them before they come to blows. 

Danny takes the entire thing extremely seriously, so when she comes to Hearth holding a pink-and-orange tiedyed cat wearing a rainbow tutu and eight million luau necklaces, Hearth isn't entirely sure why she chose such garish items, and he asks as much, though more tactfully. Shyly, she signs,  _I used to have a cat like this at my dad's house. My step-mom said I was too old for it and donated it to some kids shelter._ Her mouth is set in a mulish line.  _She hated me being childish or silly. She wanted me to grow up and go away so I wouldn't remind my dad that my mom wasn't around anymore._ Hearths heart hurts at that, but he doesn't know what to say. What do you say in a situation like that?

Hannah seems to have a goal in mind, as she searches through the bins of empty stuffed animals with a ferocious look on her face, directing it every once in a while at Hearth, like she's trying to figure something out. Eventually, she pulls out a creamy colored cat carcass--well, that's what it looks like to Hearth, okay?!--and runs over to the stuffing station, shaking it in the employee's face. Hearth isn't sure what to do, since it's a little hard to play translator when you need a translator yourself, but thankfully Sam intervenes before the employee gets irritated and talks to the employee, her hands flying as she signs for Hannah's benefit, telling the employee Hannah is deaf and would like the cat stuffed. Once the employee realizes why Hannah hasn't said anything, he seems to calm, and Hearth relaxes a bit at that. Soon Hannah is running through the clothes with a freshly stuffed and "laundered" Siamese cat, picking up shirts and then discarding them. Again, she seems to know what she wants, and soon she's putting the final touches on her creature and pushing it into Hearth's arms, signing  _hold this_ , before she's off again to...make another one? Good lord, what is the appeal in this? This one takes even longer, and she goes so far as to stomp her foot angrily at one point before she calms down and grabs something else. Finally, she stands in front of Hearth and holds them up triumphantly, before tucking them between her feet so she can sign.  _Look! I made you and Blitz!_ Now that she sees that, her choices make sense, though Hearth isn't sure how he feels about being represented by a smiling Siamese cat wearing a white t-shirt, leather jacket, and black jeans, along with a candy-striped scarf that could drown the stuffed animal. Blitz is also rather well yet oddly represented, being a dark brown teddy bear wearing a fancy suit and sunglasses, Bond style, a tube of sunscreen and a suitcase fastened to the bear's hands with pieces of elastic. Hearth feels a warm sensation in his chest when he looks at them, even knowing how ridiculously expensive they are.  _Very nice,_ he signs. It seems to be the right thing to say, since Hannah beams at that.

Sam picks out a simple brown teddy bear and puts it in a plain outfit, but it takes her five minutes to find a scarf big enough to fashion into a hijab for her bear, the entire time of which Alex is poking fun at her, judging by Sam's red face. Alex's bear is way crazier in contrast, another tie dyed monstrosity wearing clothes fit to hike in a plush forest. Blitz would love this place, Hearth thinks. Maybe he'll bring Blitz back here around the holidays. Hearth imagines Blitz picking out a line of stuffed animals and freaking out over the ill-fitting clothing, before going home and designing a whole line of clothes just for stuffed animals. It's a nice idea.

Once they're done checking out, they leave, each of the kids clutching a cardboard "house" (or in Hannah's case, two) containing their stuffed animal and a pretend birth certificate. They stop to buy some chocolate at a nice store, because Magnus always likes to bring chocolate back to Valhalla with him, and he's staying home. Then they're passing a Victoria's Secret and Alex is nudging Sam with an evil smirk that indicates he just said something lewd, and Sam is blushing ferociously, but Hearth detects a bit of bitterness in Alex's expression. Hearth signs,  _stay with TJ, okay?_ to Hannah, who nods, then he walks a bit more briskly until he catches up with Alex, who is now by himself.

 _You okay?_ Hearth asks Alex.

Alex looks at him, surprised, then signs,  _totally fine, why do you ask?_ He doesn't look fine. He looks distracted, and a bit distressed, glancing at pictures of mannequins modeling the latest fashion as they pass. Hearth doubts he's looking because he takes notes for Blitz, like Hearth is sometimes pushed into doing when Blitz worries about competition.

 _You looked upset about something,_ Hearth signed,  _I was concerned. Did Sam say something?_

 _No!_ Alex signs emphatically, his eyes wide,  _Sam's great, I just got upset. I mean._ His signing falters a bit.  _It's not like dysphoria or anything--I'm male, I feel male, my body isn't bothering me, but...seeing the models just bothers me. I mean, when I'm female, I want to be able to pull off clothes like that, but I CAN'T, because some dumbass decided to design girl clothing for curves and boy clothing for sticks and that sort of thing. If I bought anything from these stores, they wouldn't fit right. If I want something to fit right, I have to buy it special, and that doesn't seem fair. I just want to be able to go to the mall and get some pretty clothes sometimes._

Hearth nods. He understands that sort of feeling. He pats Alex's arm reassuringly.  _I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'm glad you said something. Us empty cups have to stick together._ Deciding he can't resist, Hearth adds,  _I don't suppose the wanting to get pretty clothes was to look pretty for anyone in particular? Because if so, I have to tell you Magnus will--_

Alex grabs his hands, which normally Hearth would be really pissed over, but Alex is turning a hilarious shade of red. When Alex realizes what he's done, he immediately lets go of Hearths hands and apologizes, then signs  _ITS NOT LIKE THAT I SWEAR_. Hearth grins. Alex would probably keep trying to argue his point, but behind them, something apparently happens, because Alex's face goes serious. Hearth turns around and sees Leslie practically shove Mary, before holding their hands over their ears and moving their mouth so rapidly Hearth couldn't dream of reading their lips. Hearth isn't sure what happened. Maybe Mary was teasing Leslie, which she does more often than she should, or Leslie got overwhelmed by the sound, or something. Either way, Leslie clearly can't cope with the mall anymore.

 _I'll take them home_. Alex both signs and says this.  _TJ, you'd better stay here._ TJ looks ready to argue, but doesn't. Perhaps he sees that more than Leslie needing Alex's help over TJ's, Alex needs to go back to Chase Space just as badly as Leslie. Hearth isn't sure how Alex plans to get Leslie home, since the next bus is in forty minutes, but he decides not to think too hard about it. It's not like this is a plot hole in a fanfiction an author just wants to avoid for now.

* * *

Two hours later, Hearth and the others approach Chase Space. It's about six thirty PM. While the kids run upstairs to put their purchases away, Hearth goes into the living room to do some straightening up. Holly is sitting on the couch when he comes in, her phone in her hand, presumably texting her boyfriend. When she sees him come in, she waves for him to come over. "I'm going out later," Hearth sees her say, enunciating clearly so he doesn't get confused. "I'll probably be gone tonight."

 _OK,_ Hearth signs reluctantly,  _be safe._ It's not like he controls her, anyway. There's nothing he can do to make her stay if she wants to go out, but considering how sick she seemed this morning, it sounds like a bad idea. Holly leaves the room to go get ready, and he straightens up some more, before the floor vibrates a bit like the front door was just slammed open. Hearth checks his watch. Blitz is home. He makes his way out of the living room and into the hallway, only to be held up by the sight of several gaping teens. Confused, he turns around to see what they're staring at in the kitchen. Then he stops himself.

Magnus is pressed against the kitchen wall, pinned in place by the arms and legs of Alex Fierro, and by the looks of things the two are attempting to stick their tongues as far down each others throats as is physically possible. Magnus is gripping Alex's upper arms, and his hair is mussed like Alex has been running his fingers through it. It's almost sweet, if it weren't for the fact that now Hearth has lost the bet with Sam. Oh, and the fact that the two are going to traumatize the poor kids if they keep it up. Blitz is ahead of him on that regard, it seems, as the dwarf at first glance freaked out and threw his hands over the eyes of the kids closest to him, and his mouth is moving rapidly, probably scolding the kids and telling them to go upstairs. It's this scolding that breaks Magnus and Alex out of their make out session, as they realize that they have an audience. Alex backs up so fast he runs into the kitchen counters, while Magnus nearly trips over himself trying to act casual.  _Hey guys,_ Magnus signs and says at the same time, judging by his mouth moving, his face beet red,  _you're back early._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long with the update, you guys. It's been crazy IRL, what with the end of the trimester (my school does classes in trimesters [Sep-Nov, Dec-Feb, Mar-June]), the teachers have been pushing grade stuff. It's so stupid, since I'm on the non-academic track and make it very clear to teachers at the beginning of the year that I don't care about doing stuff just for grades, but there you have it.
> 
> Also, in case you didn't figure it out, this is a three parter. Hopefully the next one will take less time than this one did. I underestimated how many times a writer mentions hearing something, and it took a while to try to fix that. I kept writing stuff about characters giggling or making sounds, only to remember HEARTH CAN'T HEAR IT. Scheisekaft ist me. 
> 
> Finally, I'm so excited you guys because WE MADE SIX HUNDRED HITS! Actually, closer to seven hundred now I'M SO HAPPY YOU GUYS ARE INTERESTED IN THIS STORY! Thank you, dear readers!


	5. A Day Out (part drei/3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it...? Could it be...? A resolution?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter. I hate this chapter. I hate this chapter with a burning passion for so many reasons. Hello corner which I wrote myself into! Ugh.
> 
> I'm sorry for taking so long, the format of this chapter has been screwing with me, so I keep getting mad and going to work on other stuff. I would say I'm really upset, but I'm actually only moderately, because while I like reading my own work and I know/hope you do too, I've started selling handmade clay charms and magnets in the last two or three weeks, and I'm up to almost seventy dollars, which is just mind boggling. Good news for me, though, only four more days til I talk to my nurse practitioner and she hopefully gets me the meds I need. That'll be a weight off my shoulders. Then I can spend more attention stressing about holiday gifts, especially for my crush. I THINK I'm going to make her a Slytherin scarf, since she's Slytherin, and pack it with Hershey's kisses, but I keep worrying it's too impersonal and she'll think I don't care that much. She's probably the first girl that I've actively had a crush on, known about the crush, and kept it after I got to know her a bit, and I'm terrified of wrecking it.
> 
> Reading that last paragraph, I can really tell I need my meds.

Magnus is just about done with Alex. The last several months have been just...gah, awful. Alex has been tugging on his heartstrings, one moment flirty and teasing, the next suddenly giving him the cold shoulder, and he has no idea how to change this situation. Sam isn't any help, since her only experience in relationships is her betrothal who she won't touch until they marry, Hearth and Blitz are too busy running Chase Space for Magnus to feel comfortable saying anything, and Mallory and Halfborn would just tease him mercilessly. But Magnus has to do or say something, if he doesn't want this awkward dance to continue for eternity. At Christmas Day, with the kids in the living room unwrapping presents, Alex had kissed him in the kitchen, then when Magnus was looking at her dumbfounded, pointed up at the mistletoe and grinned wickedly, before vanishing. Than the next day she had avoided him like the plague. On Valentines Day he woke up to a bunch of wildflowers at his door, but when he worked up the courage to ask Alex point-blank if he'd left them, the tricky son of Loki had turned into a ferret and run away instead of answering.

On this particular morning, Magnus is especially cross. Alex is looking especially sharp in dark pink jeans that hug his legs snugly, and a t-shirt and vest combo. A soft-looking sweater tied around his waist hides the garrote Magnus knows Alex always wears. Magnus wonders whether Alex is wearing the plain clay cutter one, or the one Sif gifted him, but knows better than to ask. Alex would probably show him by lopping off a limb. After all, losing a limb is something Valhalla handles easily. Magnus should know. One morning he got both feet cut out from under him in breakfast and Mallory was too busy cackling to pity-kill him. He ended up asking Jack to carry him to his room, then spent a very grumpy day until the daily battle, at which he was promptly killed and later woke up in his bed, both feet now firmly attached to his body.

Rather than trying to talk to Alex and listening to more wishy-washyness, Magnus dumps food on a plate and sits as far from Alex as possible. He ends up seated between two of the newer kids. Amy, a short, plump girl who he usually sees boxing with Julie or modeling dress designs for Jay, keeps starting to fall asleep, her head falling into her eggs. He wakes her up at first, but soon gives up and lets her sleep, making a note to get her a towel or something to wash her face. She's already having enough issues with medicine. When Magnus got here this morning she was in a staring contest with two orange bottles. It took some gentle coaxing to get her to take her pills and finish getting ready. Jordan, on Magnus' other side, is almost manically cheerful, eating a balanced breakfast with enough manners to please the queen, and dressed almost neatly enough to satisfy Mr. Alderman. The fading black eye and bandage peeking out from his shirt sleeve ruins the look a bit, though. Magnus itches to heal Jordans wounds. He knows it's not possible, though. Jordan would notice, and question such a drastic change. It's not like when Hannah arrived, young and trusting, or when kids come in late at night, high or drunk or just plain worn out and Magnus can slip in some healing without any questions asked.

After breakfast, the house clears out rapidly. Plans have been made for today, with a capitol P, and Magnus is not involved, which doesn't bother him. Really, it doesn't. Even when he watches Alex walk off, talking amiably with TJ, and wonders what it would be like to walk hand in hand with Alex. He shakes the thought off and goes to do dishes. If he cleans, he can avoid his thoughts, so it probably isn't surprising to anyone who knows him that soon after, the house is quite neat looking. Magnus brings the laundry down to the basement, which in of itself can be a hefty task, and sets a load of linens washing before taking the dry stuff up. He takes out the kitchen garbage, before consolidating all the bathroom garbages. He stops when he reaches the second floor bathroom, a bit startled to find that along with the normal garbage he finds of used tampons, paper towels, and toilet paper wrappers, three plastic thermometers stick to the bottom of the little cans bag. Except they're not thermometers, they're used pregnancy tests, two with a pink plus sign, one with a blue negative.

He's almost about to suspect one of the kids who lives here of having bought and used them, before he remembers that one of the things they did when they set up the place was put a cardboard box in each bathroom cabinet that had everything needed for safe sex as well as pregnancy and STD tests. He's come in more than once and seen a test floating around after a visitor came, and one memorable occasion a quiet girl had actually asked him if they had any, then burst into tears when he told her where they were. Sam had had to go in and show the girl how the things worked, which Alex had found hilarious and said so after the girl left. A seventeen year old Muslim forced to show a fifteen year old how to pee on a stick. Alex spent the next week after that making jokes about how clearly Amir and Sam had been doing something, if Sam knew how a pregnancy test worked. Then Sam beheaded Alex. After that, Alex cut it out.  _Enough, Magnus,_ he scolds himself,  _stop thinking about Alex. It's no good for you._

Determined to avoid thinking about Alex again, Magnus finishes consolidating and taking out the garbage and recycling, before rotating loads of laundry. He makes the beds in the little kid's rooms, puts clean linens outside Hearth and Blitzs room (he's learned not to go in there without permission, Hearth uses runes to make sure nobody can bother them) for later, and puts clean linens in the room TJ stayed in last night. After that, it's barely twelve, so he goes into the kitchen and sorts through the fridge foods, pulling out old leftovers and packing them up into bags to leave outside for anyone who needs a good meal. Since Amir is here, he's going to make falafal, so Magnus decides to make sure they have everything for that. Falafel making is a very serious business, after all. He counts and recounts the chickpeas until he's sure they have enough to feed a small army, on top of everything else. He takes out and double checks that they have the ingredients for hummus, pita, kebabs, tzatziki, and baba ghanouj.

Only two kids have showed up at their doorstep so far, both sullen looking teens, one with a baggie of weed and a poorly-maintained mohawk who looks about fifteen, the other with a box of cigarettes and a denim jacket a size or two too big, probably in their first or second year of college, neither looking in the mood to explain to Magnus why they're here. He lets them in without question and doesn't say anything when they vanish into the basement to light up. He is a bit surprised when he finds the kid with the mohawk at a laptop in the basement, doing what looks like college-level geometry on some online site while high, but he doesn't ask questions. He just leaves a tray of snacks on the table by the stairs in case either are hungry and goes back upstairs. Magnus is feeling antsy and it's barely twelve twenty, so he decides to start cooking. He hasn't had fresh dolma in forever, and ever since Amir showed him how to make it back in September, Magnus has loved making them almost as much as he does eating them, so he keeps the ingredients around pretty much constantly. He pulls out the onions and starts cooking. 

Around the time the packets of deliciousness wrapped in vine leaves are cooking away in liquid and will be for the next hour or so, the doorbell rings. Magnus goes to open it and finds Holly, looking somewhat green. When she's let in, she makes a beeline for the bathroom, where she vomits up her breakfast. Worried, Magnus helps her wash out her shirt and brings her a clean one, along with a cup of ginger tea. When she takes it with thanks, he deliberately brushes hands with her, trying to subtly push a spark or two of healing into her without her noticing. Nothing much, just something to make her feel less nauseated. And maybe deal with whatever's making her sick. Magic healing is an imprecise art, after all. He doesn't see her memories this time, which is good. It was bad enough seeing them the first time, when she showed up at their doorstep with a bleeding headwound and a concussion. She'd said a paint can fell on her, though her memories showed a landslide of some kind, after running from a fight with her mother. The only reason she'd made it to their doorstep to get help was her boyfriend, who'd apparently visited their place once or twice, probably when Magnus wasn't there, and knew it was a safe place. It was the only good thing Magnus had ever heard of him doing.

The healing doesn't seem to do much for Holly, which worries Magnus, but he doesn't say as much to her. He helps her get settled in the living room with her tea and some toast, and brings down some books and a laptop when she asks for them, even though personally when Magnus was in school he'd have jumped at the chance to avoid doing his homework. Once she's settled on the couch, a blanket around her shoulders, book in her lap, a mug in her hands, he retreats back into the kitchen to remove the dolma from it's pot. That done, he starts cleaning dishes from the cooking endeavor, so that the kitchen doesn't look like a whirlwind went through. This time, he's interrupted three times. Once by the kid in the denim jacket bringing the dishes up from the basement. When he asks if there's anything wrong, the kid scuffs at the ground and mumbles something about smoking helping with anxiety, but they can't do it on-campus anymore. They head out shortly after, presumably to go back to class or whatever college kids do. They try to give Magnus some money as thanks, but he refuses to take it and encourages the kid to come back if they need to smoke somewhere again. He wonders if they'll take him up on the offer.

The second time he's interrupted, it's by Holly creeping in to get a second cup of tea. He stops her, makes her sit, and makes her a second cup of tea himself. He also makes more toast and cuts up two oranges. They sit there and eat together, Holly drinking her ginger tea slowly while she nibbles at dry toast, Magnus spreading peanut butter and honey on his toast and drinking a strong chai Sam bought him for Christmas, since the last time he visited her house he kept drinking it, and after that he kept asking her to bring him some every time she visited. He probably brews it stronger than she does, but it's tricky to get the hang of loose leaf tea. Holly keeps opening her mouth like she wants to say something, but then closing it again. Magnus is tempted to ask what's wrong, but he suspects she'd just run away. Once the oranges and toast are gone, Holly sticks her plate in the sink and retreats to the living room, making any chances of conversation zero.

The second kid leaves around two, leaving nothing behind but a faint smell of weed in the basement and a gruff thanks Magnus' way. This is just in time for the basement to start filling up again, this time with kids out of school club activities. They're here for all sorts of reasons, and Magnus doesn't ask, though he worries about them. He knows that it could be as simple as Chase Space being a good homework place, what with all the books and free high speed internet, but he knows that at least some of them are there because they don't have somewhere else to go. Holly goes down around three and sits with the middle schoolers, helping them with their homework. Magnus provides snacks and drinks and tries to stay out of the way, since he's not exactly up to date on American history or calculus.

At five o clock, Magnus is bringing up another load of laundry from the basement when he stops. Hanging up their coats and taking off their shoes at the door are Alex and Leslie. Alex glances at him briefly, then looks away, making Magnus' heart sink. He doesn't say anything, though, he just goes to help Leslie and ask if they want anything. Leslie smiles shyly and asks if they have any hot chocolate. "Of course," Magnus says, because why wouldn't they? "I'll heat it up. How was the movie?" He's talking to Leslie, but his eyes are on Alex. Alex leans against the entry wall and looks at the stairs, his hair falling into his face until he brushes it back.

Leslie beams. "It was lovely!" they say. "Isn't lovely a good word? It really makes me feel like I'm saying I love something, which is what I'm saying, so it's right. And the movie was WONDERFUL." Leslie follows Magnus into the kitchen, chattering away about the movie and how TJ sat with them further back, and how if Leslie liked boys they would want a boy like TJ, "Because he's a real gentleman, just like the books say and all, Magnus."

"I'm sure he is," Magnus says dryly, putting the kettle on to heat as Leslie speaks. "How come you two are back without the others?"

Leslie wilts a little. "It was loud," they mumble.

Magnus sighs. "I see. Did you bring your headphones?"

"They don't always help," Leslie argues, "Usually they only block out a little, so it's not like they're that effective."

"But did you bring them?" Magnus persists.

"...No."

"Why not?"

"I couldn't find them. But really, it doesn't matter, since they only block out a little, so it's not worth the trouble to look for them." Magnus doesn't understand this excuse in the slightest, since Leslie was literally wearing them during breakfast, but he knows if he argues Leslie will just dig in their heels, refusing to admit they made a mistake.

"Well, next time ask someone, okay? We're not miracle workers."

"That's not true," Leslie argues, "Hearth made it snow once. _That_ was a miracle."

"That was a fluke, not Hearth." Magnus curses Hearth silently. Late December, it hadn't snowed once and Hannah was devastated. She couldn't imagine Christmas without snow. So one night Hearth went out and did something with his runes. The next morning, they woke up to almost three feet of perfectly white snow that had fallen overnight. "Can you name more than one time that something might have happened?" He should know better than to leave an opening like that.

"Yes," Leslie answers promptly, staring at him with accusing eyes. "When Liams ribs hurt him because he was binding with duct tape and ace bandages, and Jay brought him here because she needed your help, _you_ touched him on the shoulder and you _glowed_ and then he stopped hurting."

"I think you're imagining--"

They're speaking over him now, their words becoming frantic, like they're worried if they don't talk fast enough he'll cut them off. "One time Hannah and I were playing hide and seek, and she took Sams hijab to curl up in and I couldn't find her for an  _hour_ and I was  _crying_ because I looked everywhere and I sat down on the couch and she said 'ouch!' or you know that weird thing she says when she's hurt since she's deaf, and I said ' _who's there?'_ and she sat up and she had this weird blanket that looked just like the couch, except when she moved it it changed, and when she shoved it to the floor it changed again. And one time this dog was wandering around the house for like an hour, I think it was stalking you, except it had Alexs' wire cutter around its neck like a collar, and when I went to pet it it let me, but it vanished before I could tell you." Leslie stops and takes a breath, giving Magnus a chance to gather his thoughts.

"I'm not going to argue this right now, Leslie," he finally says, pressing a cup of hot chocolate into Leslies hands in an attempt to quiet them. "Okay?"

"Okay, fine, but you know I'm right." With that final comment, Leslie sweeps out of the kitchen.

Magnus is starting to clean up when a voice behind him makes him jump. "Got enough for me?"

"Y-yeah, of course." Magnus hurries to grab a cup and pour hot chocolate into it for Alex. He nearly drop the cup when Alex reaches around him to take it, breathing right in his ear and smirking, the asshole.

"Thanks." Alex blows on the liquid to cool it, grinning up at Magnus. "Chocolate's always nice."

"Well, duh." Magnus is pouring himself a cup now, because it's easier to avoid looking at Alex when he has something to do. "How was the movie?"

"Meh, it was alright. It would have been better with you, though." 

Magnus almost spills his hot chocolate on himself before he can set it on the table with a rather audible clink. "Alex!" he hisses.

"What?"

Magnus frowns. "We can't keep doing this, Alex."

"Doing what, exactly?" Alex is closer to him now, scooting his chair closer as they speak, and Magnus could count the eyelashes on both of Alexs eyes, both light and dark brown. He chooses to look at his cup, instead. "Hanging out? Being...friendly?"

"This flirting! This game!" Magnus is angry now, frustrated at Alex's games. "One day you're all but in my lap, the next day you treat me like an enemy or--or a brother! Just make up your mind and stop toying with me!" His voice grows quiet. "It's not like you don't know how I feel about you." Magnus will probably remember that day on Naglfar for the rest of eternity, until Ragnarok.

Alex doesn't say anything for some time. Then, just when Magnus has decided to take Alexs silence as being assent that he doesn't really like Magnus that way, Alex speaks. "I...I'm not good at this whole feelings thing. This whole liking someone. I mean," he laughes sheepishly, "The first crush I had was on my art teacher. I don't really know how to deal with it. It's not like many people are willing to put up with the whole girl sometimes, boy sometimes thing, and even less people want to date someone like that. And the idea of being pinned down to one person...scares me."

"Being in a relationship doesn't pin you down to that person," Magnus says softly, not daring to speak too loud lest he scare her away. "It just...it expands your horizons, it lets you feel new things, explore things in a different way, with that person. But Alex, I can't take all this back and forth, really I can't. If you don't like me, just tell me so I can get over it, but this game of hot and cold hurts too much. Just commit to something. I understand if you don't feel that way, or even if you're just not interested, but--"

Magnus is cut off this time in the middle of his sentence by Alex's lips on his. Just as quickly, Alex retreats. "I am. Interested, that is." Alex is almost as red-faced as Magnus, which is something. "Maggie, I've liked you since I first caught you staring at me in Valhalla. You're nice, you listen to people, you help others, you respect peoples boundaries..." His lips twitch. "You're not a bad kisser." Magnus blushes. "You said you wanted me to commit, so here's my committment to you. I love you, Magnus Chase, and I want to date you and kiss you and hang out with you until Ragnarok. I'd also like to kiss you now." Then Alexs lips are on Magnus's, and Magnus can think of nothing else, except that Alexs hair smells like cloves and cinnamon, and his lips taste like tomato sauce. Magnus kisses Alex back, wrapping his arms around Alex with them meeting at the small of Alex's back. Alex is delicate, small enough so that if you only looked at him, you'd think he was easily broken, but his body is lean and muscled, and Magnus can feel the strength in his grip as the two lock lips.

They only stop kissing when they almost knock over Magnus' cup of hot chocolate, and even they only move to stand against the wall, which is cool against Magnus's back as he and Alex kiss. Alex puts his hands around Magnus's neck, and Magnus has his hands on Alex's arms, feeling Alexs biceps as he opens his mouth to deepen the kiss, much to Alexs pleasure. Magnus is feeling flushed and excited, and he almost squeaks when Alex teasingly runs his tongue across Magnus's lower lip. His legs are pinned between Alex's, and he can feel that the son of Loki is just as excited by this as Magnus is. In the distance, Magnus hears a door creak, but he's far more fixated on Alex and the things he's doing with his tongue. Magnus is just thinking maybe they should take this somewhere else before they go any further, when he is interrupted by a shout. Like startled cats, they seperate immediately, Alex backing up into the kitchen counters with flushed cheeks and swollen lips, while Magnus attempts to flatten his hair like he hasn't just been making out with Alex in front of...Odin's eye, Blitz, several amused looking teens, and Hearth laughing hysterically. Blitz is shouting something about how if they want to be so intimate, they'd better restrict it to their room, because he cooks in the kitchen (which is rather hypocritical, considering that Magnus once walked in on him and Hearth seconds away from sex in the kitchen shortly after they started remodeling Chase Space. Magnus doesn't care if he was the only one likely to walk in on them at the time, it's still gross to see your surrogate dads half-naked.) Hearth is snickering mightily, which doesn't help Magnus's embarassment. How did they miss everyone showing up, anyway? "Hey guys," he stammers, beet red and signing for Hearth's sake as per habit, "You're back early."

Hearth just cackles harder. Magnus feels ready to sink through the floor, and when he glances out of the corner of his eyes, so does Alex. Alex's hair is even more messy than his, one lock almost sticking straight up in the back, and his face is flushed, while he keeps his hands in his pockets and stares studiously at the ground so as not to meet anyones eyes. Blitz sighs and puts one hand on his forehead, before shooing the kids upstairs. Then he comes into the kitchen, Hearth following. Finally, looking very put out, Blitz signs to Hearth  _tell Sam she won the bet._ Hearth smirks and nods, before leaving.

Alex looks as confused as Magnus feels. "The bet?"

Blitz scratches the back of his neck. "Well, yeah. We had a betting pool on when you two would get together. I figured the way you were acting it would be another month at least."

"Hmm." Much to Magnus's shock, Alex doesn't seem embarrassed by this news, just thoughtful. "I assume we get a cut of the money?"

Blitz gapes at Alex. "I--you--"

"Because OBVIOUSLY my loving sister would NEVER bet on my life without giving me a PERCENTAGE, now would she?" Alex grins mischievously at Sam as the girl enters.

Sam rolls her eyes. "Of course, Alex. I'm sure you two can spend it on lingerie." Alex turns red, along with Magnus, and Sam gives Hearth a high five. "Hearth was right, saving up for when you get together is so much more satisfying. If you two are going to keep kissing or whatever, at least go to your room so the rest of us can get started on dinner. Unless you don't want falafel?"

Magnus's eyes widen. "We're going!" Faintly, he hears Alex joke that Magnus probably loves falafel more than he loves anyone, and Sam and Blitz chuckle in response, before he tugs Alex up the stairs. After all, they've just been given an open invitation to keep kissing. He certainly wouldn't mind going further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was it worth the wait?
> 
> Comment if you have any suggestions or things you'd like to see!


	6. The Inevitable, Expected, Much Anticipated beach day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We go to the beach, because that's fun. A vegetarian (thats me) tries to describe a clambake. Oh, and someone's pregnant, NBD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of my brain, it is 2013 right now. Between January and July was the Magnus Chase books. July 2012 Chase Space opened. Shortly after THAT was the pig foot fiasco. In April 2013, Magnus and Alex got together and Sam won a bunch of money. It is now June, which means no school for the kids! Currently the following kids are at Chase Space:
> 
> Holly, Liam, Jay, Leslie, Hannah, Mary, Drew, Amy.
> 
> And these are new kids/kids who joined living since last time;
> 
> Jordan - a blonde, neatly-put together boy. He recently turned eighteen (May birthday) and left his home, but can't afford to stay by himself. He's working at Blitzen's Best to save up enough to move into an apartment.
> 
> William/Bill - a tall, gangly boy with dark brown skin and close-cropped reddish brown hair. He enjoys learning science, especially biology. He got kicked out by his parents when he came out as gay. Almost fifteen years old
> 
> Riley - a small, petite-looking kid with curly blonde hair and grey eyes. Child of Athena. Was brought to camp a month ago with two others by Magnus, but wasn't comfortable with it and came back. Doesn't really attract monsters. About thirteen. Non-binary (agender) and hard of hearing.
> 
> Edith - a short, stocky girl with broad shoulders and basically no curves. Really likes fighting. Daughter of Enyo. Dark brown hair she curls, hazel eyes, freckled and somewhat pimply skin. Fourteen and a half years old. Trans.
> 
> Quinn - a tall, curvy girl with masses of curly red hair and a mean hand with a pepper spray. Dark hazel-green eyes. Deaf.
> 
> I'm also introducing a few new enherji this chapter:
> 
> Sandy/Alexander - son of thor, twin of Merry. Died in ww1 as a soldier. Ruddy gold-red hair, big brown eyes, and peachy skin. British. A little younger than Merry.
> 
> Merry/Meredith - daughter of Thor, twin of Sandy. Died in ww1 shortly after Sandy, was a nurse but took up arms after Sandy died. Ruddy gold-red hair, big brown eyes, and peachy skin. British. About seventeen.
> 
> Finally, a heads-up, this chapter includes some strong language regarding sexual behavior and some jerks about it. It also includes (surprise surprise) teen pregnancy. I know, it's been pretty strongly hinted at before, but this is confirmation. OR IS IT? Nyeh heh heh.

Blitzen is getting a little tired of dancing around whatever's got Holly so grumpy, and he's decided on a mission to figure out out. Or he would if Hearthstone hadn't told him how ridiculous it sounded and come up with a better one. Whatever. Blitz has to admit Hearths is easier, and doesn't run the risk of getting arrested. It's also more boring.

Blitz sits in the living room sewing away at a dress someone ordered, sewing what feels like five million tiny seed beads into little stiff wire loops on the skirt that create a billowing floral design, when Holly gets home. She isn't expecting anyone to still be up, it seems, because when she walks into the living room to sit, she jumps about a foot at the sight of Blitz, before running her fingers through her hair and trying to look casual. "Um. Hi." Blitz takes a moment to inspect Holly before he responds. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail, revealing huge circles under her eyes, and she's wearing jean shorts and a tank top covered by a black leather jacket. The jacket is probably one of the nicest pieces of clothing she has, if not the most. It's form-fitting and snug down to her waist, where it flares out a bit to create a looser fit, and ends just below her shorts. The collar is a shawl collar, a separate piece made of fur. He calls it faux fur, but really it's goat fur from Otis and Marvin. The two are surprisingly willing to be skinned for the sake of fashion, especially since Blitz made the deal with Thor, Thor just kept sewing their skins to make the hugest goat-skin rug ever. This jacket has Otis fur, a soft charcoal grey that goes well with the charcoal grey and dusky pink roses embroidered on the front of the jacket, following the zipper down before creating a border around the bottom of the jacket. Blitz is especially proud of that jacket. Right now, it's fitting weirdly. She's clearly lost a bit of weight around the shoulders, since it seems to be holding itself up in only the way that leather can, while the middle is a little tauter than usual, indicating she weighs more around her belly than she used to. Blitz reminds himself to take the jacket into the shop for some letting out and taking in. Maybe he'll borrow it while she's out somewhere one day.

"Hi," Blitz returns. It sounds cheerful to him, but Holly looks like a cornered animal. "Would you like something hot to drink before you go to bed?"

"Uh...sure." Blitz finishes setting his stitch, then carefully puts the dress aside and goes into the kitchen, Holly following him warily. She reeks of cigarettes, but Blitz doesn't scold her. He doesn't control her body, and she certainly doesn't trust or respect him enough to listen to his opinion or be open to him, even after all he does for her. _At least Hearth gets the kids to talk to him_ , Blitz thinks sulkily. Besides, she'll be clean and almost completely smoke-free in the morning, if he knows her. Even without her talking, he's noticed a pattern in her behavior. While she goes to visit her boyfriend almost every night, and comes in late often, she doesn't smoke more then two or three times a week. She'll stress and stress until she vanishes and comes back late at night subdued and covered in cigarette smoke, then guilt and obsess over it for the next few days, until it's so bad she makes herself do it again to deal with the stress. If she gets really stressed, she comes back drunk, though thankfully she's a quiet drunk, she doesn't bother the other kids or anything.

Blitz finishes making the tea and hands her a cup, then holds out his hand. "Jacket."

"Wh-what?" Holly is blowing on her tea to cool it, but at that she makes a face at him. "I like this jacket. I'm keeping it."

"Yes, yes, I know, it was a gift from your boyfriend, I remember, he bought it from me. Which is why I know how to clean it so it won't smell like you poured a whole bottle of tequila on it and then used it as an ashtray. Jacket." Holly hesitates a moment longer, then slowly hands it to him. "I'll have it in the morning...assuming you didn't actually use it as an ash tray. Did you?" Blitz may agree with Hearth they need to use a gentle approach when it comes to getting information out of Holly, but that doesn't count for clothing. Clothing is the exception, Blitz has decided.

"No!" Holly seems offended, and Blitz feels a little bad, but not enough to regret asking. Getting smoke out of leather is like getting a frost giant to treat you like a guest and not kill you. Not easy, and you have to choose your words--or your cleaning solutions--carefully, lest you ruin it further. "I'm really tired, Blitz, can I go to bed?"

"Of course," Blitz says absently, running his hands over the embroidery to see if any dirt comes away. It's remarkably clean. "Don't forget the trip tomorrow."

Holly, halfway out of the kitchen, freezes. "The trip?"

"Yes...remember we're going to the beach? Don't worry if you don't have a swimsuit, we'll be swinging by Blitzen's Best so you guys can pick new ones if you want before we go. It'll be fun."

 "Do I have to go?" If Blitz didn't know Holly better, he would have called the tone of voice she just used  _whiny._ He doesn't understand why she doesn't want to go. Usually she's willing enough to go along with whatever weekend plans they make. 

"Yes," Blitz says firmly, deciding that just this once, he's putting his foot down. He has a suspicion it'll pay out, anyway, and be worth all the scolding Magnus will do. "Everyone is going. It'll be fine. Go to bed, Holly. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night," she mumbles, then vanishes as Blitz gets back to work sewing the loops in place.

* * *

  
The next morning, Hearth takes Mallory and Alex to purchase last minute items, and the other enherji and Amir are left to pack the cars with lunch and other necessities while Blitz takes the kids to get swimsuits at his store. He worries a bit, but Sam is there and she'll hopefully keep them from packing nothing but falafel and ice cream. Blitz had been worried about this trip for a while, since the sun will petrify him if he gets too much and the beach is basically the sunniest place around, but for his birthday, Freya gave him a special cream that lasts twelve hours and protects dwarves from the sun. He just puts some on in the morning and some in the afternoon and he's practically human. Well, when it comes to sun, anyway. It's a years supply, which Blitz is grateful for. This cream lets him do way more with the kids than he could before.

Once they get there, Blitzen greets Dawn, the woman he hired a few months back to run the shop three days a week. Technically, she runs it four days a week. He comes in three days to run the shop, and one day he's just supposed to be there for fittings and consultations, but he gets distracted and starts doing other things, too. Then he eyes the kids, considering his options. Signing as he speaks, he says, "You guys can go look and see what you like, but I'll be checking before final decisions. If you need any help, let me know." He turns to the youngest. "Mary, Hannah, Drew, Danny, come with me." The four whine a bit, but follow him. 

First he helps Drew, since Drew is baffled by the whole thing. Once Drew is trying on swim trunks in a changing room, Blitz takes the girls over to the other swimsuits and lets them go nuts. Danny just grabs the first one she sees, clearly wanting to get back to her books, and she isn't happy when Blitz points out that she just grabbed a suit for a two year old. He gives her one in a bigger size. The kids suits are pretty basic here. Little girls don't need bikinis. Both sections have swim shirts and shorts, and the girls section has one-pieces and a few tankinis. Danny has chosen a halter-top style in dark blue with light blue polka dots and a skirt over the bottom section that covers her legs more. Hannah and Mary, meanwhile, are being more adventurous. Hannah tries on five different swim suits before she decides on a swim top that has sparkly ruffles and a pair of shorts that have the same ruffles and look almost like a mermaid tail. Mary has a purple one-piece with a bow. He considers arguing, since that shade of purple doesn't go with her hair in the slightest, but decides it's not worth the fight. It's going to hurt his eyes all day, though. Once they all have their swimsuits, he has them go sit in the back with their books or devices and tells them not to touch anything, silently relieved that his "big project" is at home safe from their clutches.

Then he goes to check on the older kids. It's taking longer, predictably. The store is open, so other kids are here to purchase suits for trips, and not everyone is sure, and and and. The easiest is probably Jordan and Bill, who are already done, having picked a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to wear after swimming. Liam takes a bit of time because the poor boy is practically hyperventilating, terrified of being singled out for the crime of wearing a t-shirt to the beach, and not wanting one that will go sheer and show off his binder. Blitz helps him find a t-shirt that won't go transparent and pick a pair of shorts that will fit right, and then Liam is done.

From there, it starts to get harder. Leslie doesn't want anything like a bikini or a pair of shorts, but is getting upset, especially as the noise grows. It takes a while to find a suitable swimsuit, but Blitz manages it. A pair of orange shorts, a one-piece swimsuit that won't cling as much when wet in white, and a heavy terry-cloth sweater. Riley wears a surf top in a shade of pink that works with their golden locks and has a design of ice cream and water melon, and a pair of pink board shorts, but sizing gets tricky and it takes them a while to find the right size. Edith has her heart set on a bikini, but she can't find one that she likes that looks right on her body. It takes the two of them together to find a suit that fits her and looks good. A high-waisted bottom in dark plum, and a halter-style top in dark plum with some pink embroidery. Amy is ready to cry over the fit of everything, since her latest meds are making her bloated, but Blitz calms her down and gets her to try a lavender swim dress that's ruched and helps smooth over trouble spots.

Jay already knows what she likes, so it's mostly just a matter of Blitz helping her go through separate pieces to find the right sizes, since she needs two different sizes. She's wearing a bandeau top with horizontal bright green and white stripes, a matching bottom, and a shawl-style cover-up that has two buttons to hold it together and is woven of a light, airy material in shades of purple. Quinn is fierce in a one-piece halter that's magenta shade that clash horribly with her masses of red hair. Much to Blitzs relief, she proceeds to tie her hair back in a black scarf, signing that it'll get in her way otherwise.

 Finally, Blitz thinks, as he ushers the kids to the door. Then he stops and does a headcount. "Does anyone know where Holly is?"

"I think she's in a changing room," one of the older girls pipes up helpfully.

"And you chose not to tell me we were leaving her behind...why?" he asks sharply.

The kids shrug. They may like him, but they're not gonna rat on a buddy. Blitz sighs. "I'll get her. Jordan, Jay, you two are in charge. Get the others back home and packed up so we can leave when I get there." Reluctantly, the two start herding the others out. Determined to get to the bottom of this, Blitz heads to the changing rooms.

"Holly? Is something wrong?" He can hear shuffling in the changing room, so he knows she's in there, but what's taking her so long? Normally any time she has to get new clothes she picks an item, tries it on, and is done. He knows because she's been here maybe three times since she started staying long term. Once to get some clothes for school, once when her boyfriend was taking her somewhere on a date and Julie and Jay were helping her find something nice, and once when the school had an event she needed a dress for. Never has she taken this long.

There's silence for a few minutes, long enough for him to get worried, then Holly speaks up. "It's--I'm fine."

"Everyone's ready to go, are you having trouble deciding or something?"

"It's just--I mean, I don't really like swimming, so it's not like I need a swimsuit, right?" This makes no sense. Holly has three old swimsuits at home that she brought when she arrived, all battered. While she hadn't joined the swim team at school, Blitz saw her records. 

"Well, nobody is going to force you to get in the water if you don't want to, but can you get one anyway, in case you change your mind?" Silence. "Come on, just show me, I'm sure you look fine."

Some more silence. Finally, Holly steps out of the changing room. She's wearing a one-piece, plain black with some sheer designs on the cap sleeves and the upper back. She's laced up a dark grey cover-up, sheer down to her waist, where it turns to a thin, silky material that layers over itself with some pink embroidery. She chose a size or two larger than she is, which means that she had to lace it up tight to keep from falling, but even the baggy material can't hide what she's been keeping secret. Besides, Blitz knows all his lines by heart. Holly is currently wearing a maternity swimsuit. Which means the extra weight she's gained recently isn't just stress.

Holly meets his eyes defiantly for a moment, then looks away. "Are you going to kick me out now?" she mutters.

It takes Blitz less than a minute to recover. "Of course not," he says, mentally making a note to talk to Hearth and Magnus ASAP about this development. "But you still have to come to the beach."

* * *

Compared to the morning's fiasco, the drive down to Carson beach is a piece of cake. When Blitz gets back to Chase Space, he finds Alex and Magnus hiding in the backseat of one of the vans, Alex's hands down Magnus' pants. The two are promptly separated and scolded (though Blitz catches Hearth  _congratulating the two_  behind Blitzens back), and set to packing. TJ apparently now borderline worships Hostess snacks, because Blitz finds two entire cases of the snacks tucked under said backseat. He just gives up on trying to get rid of those. Sam and Halfborn packed enough healthy food for the others, and it's not like enherji get cavities. 

Blitz is always torn on the vans. On the one hand, they really do have enough people to need the huge, fifteen-passenger vans, if not now then soon. They currently have fourteen regular kids who stay, and half a dozen more who are almost regular but not quite. Then they have eleven others. The enherji apparently all got permission, because they're all there. Mallory and Halfborn, Alex and Magnus, TJ and his boyfriend, and Meredith. Sam and Amir are there, Alex playing at chaperone, and of course there are Hearth and Blitz. Still, even with the crowd, Blitz hates the giant white and black monsters. Or at least, he did, until he came home one day and found out that Hearth had taped up all the windows and let the kids play paintball with them. As a final, wonderful touch, Hearth got giant stickers to put on the doors with the "Blitzen's Best" logo. After that, Blitz didn't hate the vans quite as much. It's certainly easy to find them when they go out.

Once everything is packed up, food, changes of clothes, toys, and so on, they actually get in. Balancing everyone is tricky. Blitz drives one van, and Amir drives the other, since they are the ones with the most experience driving big passenger or cargo vans. Each van has four rows, not counting the drivers row. The back row seats four, the second row seats three, and the other two are split up into a bench for two and a bucket seat. Hearth sits in the passenger seat next to Blitz, while Amir shares the front with Holly. Holly takes this seat after a mild argument breaks out between Alex and Sam over whether Sam is allowed to sit next to Amir with nobody watching her. Sam says yes, Alex says no, Amir wisely stays silent, and during the fight Holly quietly claims the seat. The sound of her buckling ends the spat.

The second row in Blitz's car is taken up by Hannah's booster seat, Liam, and Riley. The third and fourth rows in each cars have sets of two and one, so there is a bit of squabbling before the final arrangement is settled. In Blitz's car, the third row has Mallory and Halfborn squeezed together, complaining loudly about the size of the seat but shoving each other affectionately, while the bucket seat is taken by Drew, since Drew is also in a booster and somewhat sulky about it. Blitz isn't sure what these human "booster seats" accomplish in the case of a crash, but Hearth is a little fanatic about car safety, so Blitz just goes along with it. The fourth row in Blitz's car has Mary and Danny, both in booster seats and equally unhappy, though Danny ignores her seat to sit hunched over a book, while Mary keeps pinching people. Leslie has the bucket seat, since Blitz and Hearth decided that giving the autistic kid a bench seat is a bad idea. Bucket seats are easier to get out of if there's a meltdown during the ride. Finally for Blitz, the back seat has the rest of the Chase Space girls. Edith, Amy, Jay, and Quinn. 

Amir, in comparison to Blitz, has a much calmer car. The second row in Amir's car is taken up by Alex, Magnus, and Sam, who is very pointedly sitting between Alex and Magnus and smacking the two of them whenever they try to hold hands. The third row has Jordan and Bill, with a giant cooler on the bucket seat, and the fourth row has Sandy and TJ sharing the bench and Merry on the bucket seat. The last row was actually folded down or removed to store most of the beach stuff there. Of course, Amir also has two ww1 soldiers and a civil war soldier in his 2012 passenger van, but still. Quieter.

* * *

Blitz hasn't been to that many beaches because, you know, dwarfs don't mix with sun, and a beach is basically the best place to get sun. It's pretty nice, he has to say. When they get there, Mary and Hannah have to be practically restrained to keep them from running straight into the water before they get settled. Both girls are handed things to carry. Between the whole group, everything gets carried to a spot in two trips. Blitz especially finds it funny to see Sandy try to impress TJ by carrying two coolers and three umbrellas, only to almost impale himself on an umbrella when Merry bumps into him. The twins almost start a fistfight over it, except that they're not in Valhalla, so killing the other would actually be permanent here, and Mallory thwacks them both on the head and makes them cut it out.

Hearth and Blitz take the big beach blanket Blitz wove for this trip (Sandshaker, Blitz calls it) and lay it out, pinning it in place with coolers and two of the four beach umbrellas. Sam sets up two chairs under a third umbrella, where she puts her books and beach bag, and the fourth is put up so the kids can sit under it when they get tired of the sun. Blitz supervises the putting on of sunscreen, ignoring grumbles. Even those with dark skin are required to wear it, though Amy and TJ clearly both think it's a waste of time. Jay puts it on without Blitz even needing to scold her, which makes him beam at her. Magnus jokingly offers to get Alex's back if Alex will get his, and promptly goes red when Alex pulls of his shirt and presents his back to Magnus with a teasing, "Be gentle, Maggie." Alex is wearing a pair of swim shorts in the most blinding shade of neon green Blitz might have ever seen, and he's got a pair of pink sunglasses on just to fulfill his pink quota. Magnus has a plain pair of swim shorts in white and grey stripes. 

Blitz expected the kids to immediately go in the water and not go out until it was time to go, but it doesn't happen. Holly goes with the youngest kids to supervise while they splash about for a bit, and the boys start up a game of volleyball, but in almost no time at all, everyone's drifting towards the blanket, asking for food. Blitz supposes that it was a pretty long drive. He sighs and breaks out the food. He's pleasantly surprised by what he finds. While there are half a dozen pitas stuffed with falafel and the fixings in a box, there's all sorts of things here, in a great variety. The youngest kids are content with chicken salad wraps, apple juice, and potato chips. Leslie wanders in long enough to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, then goes back to sitting under an umbrella and building a sand castle. Jordan and Holly are both rather calm about the whole thing, having bean sprout wraps and nectarines. Holly also has two pieces of cold fried chicken and a hard boiled egg, before she's dragged into the water by Danny, who wants her to teach Danny how to swim. The other teens complain loudly of hunger, as kids going through puberty and growth spurts do. The seven of them empty a quart container of potato salad, half the box of falafel, two galleons of lemonade, six apples and four nectarines, and eight chicken salad wraps, before scattering to go do whatever teens do at the beach.

 Sam settles back to read her book under the umbrella, while Amir and Halfborn carry the trash to a nearby can. Then Mallory shouts something to Alex, and the two are running into the water, Magnus and Halfborn following. Blitz watches as Mallory gestures emphatically until Halfborn consents to letting Mallory up on his shoulders. Magnus and Alex take a bit more negotiating before Alex ends up getting a piggy back ride of sorts from Magnus. It seems to involve them falling over a lot, though. The two couples start splashing and playfighting, but it quickly devolves into Alex vs Halfborn, with Mallory and Magnus cheering them on.

Blitz, happy enough to laze about in the sun, is doing just that, basking in the fact that he's able to do so, when a hand taps his shoulder. He looks up. Hannah, Mary, and Danny are looking down at him. "Can we bury you?" Danny asks, polite as ever. Mary just holds up a bucket of sand with an evil gleam in her eye. Hannah is grinning. Blitz considers saying no, then he wonders where Hearth is. Looking around, he finds the elf...buried. Hearth just gives him a flat look and wiggles a bit like there's too much sand for him to free his arms to sign, but if he could, he'd probably be saying,  _They buried me, so they bury you._ Blitz gives up. "Fine." The girls get to work faster than he imagined possible. In no time at all, they've buried him up to his shoulders in cold, wet sand that feels like someone poured cement over him. He can see why Hearth couldn't free his arms. Then, apparently not content with two buried adults, they talk Sam, Amir, Sandy, and Magnus all into letting them bury them in sand. Blitz has no idea what the appeal is. Of course, it's only after all the responsibile adults have been buried, that he sees their plan. The girls go through the coolers and raid them, coming away with four boxes of juice, two of chocolate milk, five cupcakes, and a dozen cookies. Giggling at their success, they flee. Blitz rolls his eyes. "You could have just asked!" he hollers, not really upset. Amy and Quinn come over, seeing the commotion, and jokingly sculpt a very rude body part in the sand covering Blitzen's groin before they relent and dig him and the others out of the sand. Quinn even shows them where some shower stations are set up so they can rinse off the sand that's clinging pretty much everywhere.

After that, Hearth wanders away to play with Hannah when she begs him to help her build a sand castle. Amir joins the boys in a game of ball. Sandy and TJ rub sand in each others hair and dig for clams along the shoreline along with other curious beach-goers. Alex and Magnus work to dig and line a firepit with stones, before lighting a fire (duh) and sitting back. Blitz takes a nap. He wakes up an hour or two later to pass out snacks to those who are hungry. Mainly potato chips, thermos cups of iced tea or lemonade, and assorted fruit. Holly switches from helping the younger kids with swimming to swimming by herself, going way out before coming back in with the waves. She no longer seems to care that her swimsuit sticks to her stomach, or that she has salt in her hair, or that she's getting a few odd looks from old ladies sunning. Blitz is glad.

After a while, Leslie joins TJ and Sandy in digging for clams, though Leslie seems more interested in the shells and sea glass they find than the clams. Merry goes to help dig, and soon all the teens are scouring the sands for clams of varied sizes. Even the youngest kids join in on the fun, though Mary gets discouraged quickly and decides to hunt for sea glass instead, and Hannah happily joins her. Blitz is just glad they have the paperwork with them. The kids seem to have a good time, though, and come back with a huge haul.

 Sam and Mallory go down to the water and work with Holly to fill giant buckets with seaweed and water, before lugging them back to their spot. At this point, the fire is really heating up and Blitz has had to keep Hannah and Drew from running into it by accident twice already, which has been twice more than he's comfortable with. He tells them to stay away from the fire and challenges them to build Chase Space out of sand. With them (and the other younger kids, by a happy coincidence) out of the way, Blitz can relax a little, even participate in a game of volleyball. He loses, of course, but he doesn't mind.

When the fire has died out and the rocks are hot enough to cook an egg on (or a very nice clambake), they get to work raking out the wood and laying down seaweed. Potatoes and clams, scrubbed and wrapped, are laid on the seaweed, then corn and lobster, then yet more seaweed, then soaked canvas is put over the whole thing with rocks to pin it in place. Blitz has never done this before, but apparently it's really cool, according to the kids, so he'd made sure to pack everything they'd need for it. They even dug a second fire pit, smaller, to grill stuff like hot dogs and marshmallows on sticks while they're waiting. 

In fact, the day has gone so well, Blitz is both disappointed and unsurprised when something does happen, because everything being perfect is impossible. Blitz doesn't notice the muttering at first, because he's busy sticking vegetable pieces on skewers for Hannah and Drew. He finishes the skewers off with cherry tomatoes, and they both thank him before returning to the firepit. Blitz leans back a bit, though he's still nervous enough to keep an eye on the firepit, despite Jay and Jordan already watching sharply for any dangers. This time he hears someone mutter something, though he isn't sure what he's hearing. He turns and sees Holly lying near him, reading a book. She's put her cover-up back on, but it's hiked up a bit to show her thighs, and she has seaweed in her hair after hunting for it with Mallory. He listens, but he doesn't hear muttering. Nobody else seems to be near to mutter, so Blitz turns his attention back to the firepit. He really should go remind Drew not to grab stuff out of the fire if it falls. Drew says he remembers, but it's late, and Drew might forget.

"Such a slut."

This time, Blitz hears the mutterer loud and clear. He jerks his head to the side and finds the culprits. Three teenage boys--maybe nineteen at oldest--are sitting nearby, and side-eying Holly like a piece of meat. The mutterer's friends grin and nudge him. "Even sluts have their uses, Jonah," one hisses with a leer. "They help little babies like you get rid of their v-card. I bet a chick like that would put out even if a slob like you asked."

"She might make you pay," the other friend offers, because apparently human males do this a lot? Just casually pick out girls and give them nasty labels? Blitz isn't sure, but he's fuming. Holly doesn't seem to notice the three, or if she does, Blitz can't tell. She has an excellent poker face. The boys continue to pick apart Holly, debating the merits of having sex with her and if she's "easy," and therefore not worth it because she might have an STD, or a bitch, and therefore too prudish to show them a good time. Blitz gets more and more angry, listening to them.

"But she's up the duff, man, preggos always wanna fuck anything on two legs--"

It appears the boys have gotten noticed by more than just Blitz, with their steadily rising voices, because the commenter gets cut off mid-sentence by a choking sound, and Blitz turns, along with Holly, who has dropped her poker face to stare. Alex, apparently having lost his cool, has grabbed the boy up by his shirt collar and is holding him close. "I suggest you stop talking," Alex hisses, "Now." He drops the boy, and glares at the three, pulling out his garrote and holding it in both fists. As quick as a flash, he lashes it out so it wraps around the boys neck, somehow using just enough force so that it slices only through fabric and not flesh. When he pulls it back, the entire shirt collar is separated from the rest of the shirt. The boys gulp. "If you don't have anything better to do than judge people by your own twisted standards, you might want to consider taking a long walk off a short pier. The next time I catch you harassing a girl like that, I'll cut more than just fabric."

The boys flee. Alex, stony-faced, fastens the garrote back around his waist, and goes to sit next to Magnus, who whispers in his ear and makes Alex start to relax. Holly, however, is looking ashy and tense, her fingers tight on her book. Blitz wants to say something, but he doesn't know what. In the end, he pretends not to notice when Holly vanishes, only to come back twenty minutes later smelling like cigarette smoke and sea salt. Hearth didn't hear the confrontation, but Sam apparently told him what happened, because when Holly comes back he offers her the left-over fried chicken, signing  _nobody else will eat it_. He also comes and sits next to Blitz, which makes him feel a little less edgy.

After that, the evening is quiet. Magnus pokes a potato and it almost explodes in his face, which makes the kids laugh, and TJ tries to juggle hot clams, but for the most part everyone is subdued as they eat the clambake (which is actually quite good, they should definitely do this again without the harassment) and clean up. The quiet lasts up until Drew and Mary start squabbling, being over-tired and upset, and Leslie almost but not quite has a meltdown, and Holly gets so stressed out they have to stop the van so she can get out and throw up. And then they get home and find out that Amy, Quinn, Liam, and Jordan all have sunburns.

Well, it had been a nice day. For the most part. And sometimes, that's all Blitz can hope for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, Beantowners, feel free to correct me on my beaches. I looked up Carson Beach and it seemed the right place, but I could be wrong. In fact, I probably am! Call me out on it, please! I'm a New Yorker, but more importantly, I haven't been to a beach or beach-like place in probably three years.
> 
> This started off as just going to the beach, but then my brain said, "Yeah, but let's add PLOT" and it sort of grew. A lot. Which is why it took so long. Yeesh...sorry, guys.

**Author's Note:**

> GAAAHHH I hate that last line, I swear it's not meant to sound foreboding or anything. Magnus just feels like a dumbass right now. I rewrote it like five times.
> 
> Let me know if you want to hear more! I mean, my updating is sporadic and doesn't count on it usually, but still! I like to know others are reading my garbling fanfics and such.


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